


Nineteen Days: A Tale of Coffee, Love and Baseball (not necessarily in that order)

by Taverl



Series: One Cream, Two Sugars [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bottom McCoy, Deaf Character, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Male Slash, Modern Era, Romance, San Francisco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-22
Updated: 2013-11-22
Packaged: 2018-01-02 07:57:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 59,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taverl/pseuds/Taverl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in present-day San Francisco.</p>
<p>Leonard is working as a barista at a popular coffee house near AT&T Park before he starts med school. His new favorite customer is a blond-haired, blue-eyed engineering student who happens to be deaf.</p>
<p>It's amazing how much can happen in just nineteen days.</p>
<p>Chapters 1-18: PG/PG-13. Chapter 19: NC-17.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One: Monday

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of the [Star Trek Big Bang](http://startrekbigbang.livejournal.com/) Challenge.  
> Click [here](http://aaweth-edain.livejournal.com/27494.html) to see the lovely art by [Aaweth Edain](http://aaweth-edain.livejournal.com/).  
> Click [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1046497) to hear the awesome mix by [Sullacat](http://sullacat.livejournal.com/).
> 
> Many thanks to [Clio](http://archiveofourown.org/users/clio_jlh/pseuds/clio_jlh) for brilliant beta and [Avirra](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Avirra/pseuds/Avirra) for perfect proofing. Extra special thanks to the lovely denizens of the [Jim and Bones](http://jim-and-bones.livejournal.com/) chat room for their patience and guidance over the months it took to bring this fic into the world.
> 
>    
>  ~~This was originally inspired by a post on Tumblr back in May or June. In it, the poster wrote about a scenario where Bones is a barista and Jim is a customer who is deaf. One day, Bones starts using sign language and Jim just beams. I don't remember whose Tumblr it was, so if somebody knows, please tell me so I can credit them properly. Or blame them, as the case may be. ;)~~
> 
> ETA: I found the [original Tumblr prompt](http://narvaez.co.vu/post/52507359656/coffee-shop-au-where-jims-deaf-and-leonards-the) from ourstjames! "coffee shop au where jim’s deaf and leonard’s the cashier and after about a year of jim going every day and writing down the same order leonard surprises him by asking him if he wants the regular in sign language and jim just lights up like a christmas tree because no one’s ever chosen to learn sign language for him"
> 
> While it’s not mentioned by name, the coffeehouse where Leonard works is one of a much-loved San Francisco chain called Philz. I have never worked there nor do I know anyone who has, but I have enjoyed their coffee often and highly recommend them to people who appreciate a good cup o’ Joe.
> 
> Disclaimer: I am not deaf and am not personally familiar with deafness or Deaf culture. If I have mischaracterized or misrepresented anything, it was not intentional and I sincerely apologize.

"I'll get an extra-large, half-caf, nonfat, no-foam mocha with an extra shot, pumpkin pie syrup, whip, caramel and extra cinnamon."

Leonard grits his teeth, takes a deep breath and manfully resists sighing audibly. He does, however, roll his eyes and share a long-suffering glance with Christine, who's currently busy stirring the grounds in all four of the drip cones at her station. He can get away with this since Mr. Starbucks who's currently taking up space at his station hasn't bothered to look up from busily tapping away on his iPhone, not even to place his stomach-churning order.

_Probably tweeting every second of his day and his only follower is his mother._

"I'm sorry, but we don't do espresso drinks or flavored coffees." That gets Insulin-Shock Boy's attention and he finally lifts his head for probably the first time since he entered the shop. He's not bad-looking, reminding Leonard of a young Frank Zappa, though this guy sports a full-on handlebar mustache instead of Frank's trademark goatee.

_Plaid shirt? Check. White t-shirt? Check. Skinny jeans? Check. Chucks? Probably. Knit cap even though it's unseasonably warm?_

Leonard notes the light sheen of sweat at Zappa Wannabe's hairline.

_Check._

Generic San Francisco Hipster #189,403 looks around for a moment, probably bewildered by the absence of hulking espresso machines and bottles of syrups as well as the presence of two dozen large bins on the shelves behind Leonard filled with a variety of coffee beans. 

_Probably doesn't even know what beans have to do with coffee._

"But this is a coffee shop," Genius responds.

"Astutely noted," Leonard replies, "but we only serve drip coffee, each cup made to order." He waves a hand at the _large, clearly-written_ menu high on the wall behind the counter and begins the oft-repeated spiel. "As you can see we have thirty kinds of coffee in three different roasts: light, medium and dark. They're all available in small or large, black or with your choice of dairy and non-diary milks and natural or artificial sweeteners."

Einstein stares dumbly at the menu and Leonard gives the next customer an apologetic look before asking her, "What can I get started for you?"

"Hey, I haven't ordered yet," His Highness barks, glaring at Leonard.

_I bet your penis is the size of a Tic-Tac and lasts just as long._

"It takes a few minutes for each cup to brew, so I can make several at a time." He Who Must Be Obeyed does not look happy, so Leonard adds, "Unless you've decided?"

"Fine," Twitter Boy finally huffs. Leonard starts on two orders before Mr. Observant whines, "That says 'Mocha' right there," and points at the menu.

Leonard focuses on the roar of the burr grinder for a moment before he dumps the grounds in a cone and begins pouring hot water over them. "That would be the Mocha Tesora. It's one of our darkest blends with distinctive chocolate overtones and is usually served with a dusting of cocoa powder." He keeps his eyes on the cones, stirring the grounds and waiting for Sherlock's next brilliant query.

He doesn't have to wait long.

"Can I get whipped cream?"

_Of fucking course._

Leonard finishes stirring sugar into a cup before handing it over to a regular who normally gives him a dollar tip, but this time she slides a five into his hand and gives a pointed glance at Stephen Hawking who's tapping his hand impatiently on the counter. Leonard thanks her before giving the current bane of his existence a quick glance.

"No."

He looks out at the line of customers snaking out the door, even at almost noon, and calls out, "Large Ether, soy, two Splendas!" The customer picks up his coffee with a whispered "good luck" and Leonard looks over at Veruca Salt, who appears on the verge of a tantrum. "We have heavy cream, whole, low-fat and nonfat only. Now, can I get you anything?"

"You call this a coffee shop?" James Beard snaps. Leonard slowly turns his head to look over his shoulder at the three shelves laden with hundreds of pounds of painstakingly-sourced, freshly-roasted, custom-blended coffee beans. 

Just as slowly, he turns back around and raises his eyebrow, infusing the look with as much condescension as he can muster. (And he’s been told he can muster quite a lot.)

Apparently he’s successful as Mustache Guy flushes red. "I'm gonna _destroy_ you on Yelp," Beanie Boy hisses before he storms out. Or at least attempts to. His exit is hampered by the enormous crowd of patrons, all of whom appear to be taking great amusement in his embarrassment.

Leonard just chuckles and takes another customer's order.

_This day is looking better already._

\---

The rest of Monday pretty much flies by in its usual endless stream of taking orders, answering questions for the newbies, and making sure China Basin's residents, employees, tourists and commuters from the nearby CalTrain station are sufficiently caffeinated.

It's certainly not his dream job, but he's been here since this branch opened four years ago and there are things about it he'll miss when he starts med school in the fall. When he and his mother moved to San Francisco five years ago, this part of town was still considered somewhat sketchy. The ballpark was only a few years old and the Giants were still a few seasons away from winning the Series and selling out every game. Everywhere he looked, something was under construction: condos, office buildings, public transportation. It was a neighborhood on the verge of becoming, and he still finds himself surprised by all the changes he's witnessed in a few short years.

When UCSF Medical opened their campus across the street, Mama began making a habit of taking one of the university's shuttles from her lab at the Virology Department over at San Francisco General and meeting him for lunch on Wednesdays. During the season, when the Giants are in town, they walk over to AT&T Park and watch a couple innings from the free viewing area in right field or just stroll along McCovey Cove and enjoy the sight of the kayakers and boaters hanging out, listening to the game on their waterproof radios and hoping to catch a "splash" homerun.

He makes a mental note to check in with her to confirm they're still on for this week since she's been busier than usual lately. The Cubs are in town, and while he's a son of a son of the South, Mama is a proud Skokie girl who still speaks with a pronounced Chicago accent despite almost 30 years in Atlanta. Daddy never had much interest in professional sports other than golf, so it was Mama who taught young Leo about the importance of a good bunt, the evils of the designated hitter and to never forget that "there's always next year." Vital knowledge for any fan of the Cubbies.

He'll miss their Wednesday lunches when he starts school, but he's too excited to finally be moving ahead with his career after several years of stagnation to worry too much. He can't wait to finally follow in his parents' footsteps. 

His mind continues to wander as he takes orders, grinds beans, pours water, steeps the occasional tea, lightens, sweetens and serves. The traffic ebbs and flows: hot drinks for the late-morning crowd, iced after lunch as people come in looking for something to get them through the rest of their work day and help them cool off in the surprisingly hot afternoon. As is typical for The City, the temperature drops and the fog begins to roll in as evening nears. The crowd has increased as fans in orange and black – and a few in Cubs' blue – come in to grab something to help keep them warm before heading to the park for another night game on the edge of San Francisco Bay.

Leonard's got two orders working when he catches sight of the man at the head of the line: Chucks, skinny jeans, white t-shirt under a plaid flannel shirt under a hoodie, huge headphones over a Cubs beanie (which he probably wears because it's ironic) his head bent low over his iPhone.

_Angels and ministers of grace deliver me from hipsters._

"I can help whoever's next." He stares directly at Hoodie Boy, who's still focused on his phone, thumbs going a mile a minute. "Sir?" The man still doesn't respond and finally the elderly woman behind Steve Jobs taps him gently on the shoulder. His head snaps up and he looks at the woman as she points at the counter and he nods and gestures at her before holding his phone up to ostensibly show her something.

_Probably Instagraming a picture of his dinner from the organic raw vegan food truck._

After a few more gestures between him and the woman, Mime Guy finally walks up to the counter and Leonard is struck by the sight of quite possibly the most gorgeous blue eyes he's ever seen framed by quite possibly the ugliest glasses he's ever seen. 

"What can I get started for you?" Blue Eyes gives him a beautiful big smile and places his arms on the chest-high counter. Between the eyes and the smile, Leonard is finding it hard to keep up his usual level of annoyance, so he focuses on the headphones still firmly attached to Jay-Z's head.

_No wonder the big money is in audiology._

Instead of replying, Hearing Aid Boy holds his phone up to Leonard, who ignores it.

_Really don't give a shit about your status, kid._

"What would you like to drink?" The kid has the temerity to roll his eyes and moves the phone closer, giving it a little shake for emphasis.

Leonard's about to argue when he catches sight of the text at the top of the screen.

**DEAF**

He closes his eyes and wishes the earth would open up and swallow him whole.

_I am the worst person EVER. ___

__He mouths "Sorry," and the kid shrugs it off with a grin._ _

__Leonard takes the phone and begins reading._ _

____**DEAF**  
 **Hi, I'm Jim.**  
 **I haven't been here before. What do you recommend?**  
 **Please type your response.**  
 **Sorry in advance for the inconvenience.**

__This must've been what the kid, Jim, was typing while waiting in line and the thought makes Leonard feel even worse. He's impressed by the proper use of capitalization and punctuation since he feels like he's the only one who cares about such things anymore. He gives Jim a nod of understanding and begins typing._ _

____**Hi, I'm Leonard. Sorry for being rude.**  
 **Do you like dark, medium or light roast?**  
 **Sweet, fruity, nutty, chocolaty?**  
 **Large or small? Milk? Sugar?**  
 **OK if I help a few people while you decide?**

__As Jim's reading, Leonard finishes up two orders, looking up when Jim gives him a "go ahead" wave and steps aside so the customers can pick up their drinks and Leonard can get to work on three more cups, keeping a cone free for Jim's order._ _

__Jim sets the phone back on the counter, and once Leonard has all three cones going, he picks it up to read Jim's response._ _

____**Don't worry about it. Happens all the time.**  
 **Let's start in the middle. Medium roast, please. Large.**  
 **Who doesn't love chocolate?**  
 **I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Whole milk, two sugars.**  
 **I leave it in your capable hands. *g***  
 **Sorry again for being a pain.**

__This time it's Leonard who waves off the apology and he gets a scoop of Philtered Soul and puts it in the grinder, dumps the grounds in the filter and pours hot water over them as Jim watches, folding his hands on the counter and resting his chin on top._ _

__Since he's got some time as the coffees drip, he looks at Jim, gestures to his headphones and tilts his head. Jim mouths "Sorry," pulling them off and settling them around his neck as Leonard shakes his head, looking apologetic. He points at the headphones again, shrugging his shoulders and Jim nods his understanding. He begins typing again as Leonard hands off two cups and starts another order before picking up Jim's phone to read his response._ _

____**Defense mechanism.**  
 **Without the headphones, people assume I can hear, since that's normal.**  
 **With them, people assume I can't.**  
 **I get bumped into a lot less but scowled at a lot more.**  
 **It's a trade-off. *shrug***

__Leonard is impressed with Jim's ingenuity but the way Jim used "normal" makes him uncomfortable for some reason. Only a couple of people remain in line; outside the window the crowds are hurrying toward the park in order to make first pitch. He finishes Jim's coffee, setting it on the counter for him and placing the sugar and milk next to it since it will be far easier for Jim to adjust it himself instead of going back and forth to get Leonard to add more, as he’d usually do._ _

__Jim smiles and raises the cup in a short toast before taking a sip. He nods in satisfaction and gives a thumbs up with his free hand. Leonard gestures at the phone and Jim gives him a nod as he puts a lid on the cup while Leonard types._ _

____**That's the Philtered Soul, milk, medium sweet, if you decide to order it again.**  
 **And don't tell anyone I said this, but...**  
 **GO CUBS! :D**

__He hesitates for a moment before adding another line._ _

__**I'm not sure if I'd say hearing is "normal" as much as "common."** _ _

__Handing the phone back to Jim before he can erase that last line, he begins cleaning up the used filters and grounds, tossing them in the compost bin while watching Jim from the corner of his eye. He sees Jim's shoulders shake briefly with a silent chuckle before Jim looks up at him again, his expression thoughtful._ _

__"Thanks, Leonard," he mouths. It takes a moment for Leonard to understand what he's trying to say until he realizes Jim was pronouncing his name lee-oh-nard. Leonard feels his face flush and just nods in acknowledgement as he walks over to the cash register. He normally doesn't cash people out, but Janice is in the back and Christine and Geoff can take care of the few people left in line._ _

__Jim hands over a five and waves Leonard off when he tries to give him his dollar in change, mouths "Thanks" and raises his cup in salute, giving Leonard another big smile before leaving the shop._ _

__Leonard returns to his station and sees Geoff, Christine and Janice all grinning at him. He looks down at his shirt. "What? Did I spill something?"_ _

__"That was very nice of you, Leonard." He doesn't think he's ever seen Christine smile that wide._ _

__"Hey, he was new. You know there's always a learning curve." All three keep grinning and he feels himself blush again._ _

__"Besides, he's deaf." He starts wiping down the counter, ignoring the looks his coworkers are giving him. "I'm a grouch, not an asshole."_ _

__\---_ _

__Later that night, he and Mama catch each other up on their days as he eats dinner in the living room in front of the TV. When the Cubs manage to hold on to win 3-2, Leonard smiles and thinks of Jim._ _


	2. Day Two: Tuesday

_Another day, another hundred pounds of coffee._

Leonard refills the bins with coffee beans as everybody cleans up and catches their breath before tonight's pre-game rush. He's tried not thinking of Jim all day, and for the most part he's been successful. But as the evening progresses, he finds himself scanning the line of customers hoping to see a familiar blue beanie.

It's getting close to game time when Leonard spots Jim, who lets a couple of people go ahead of him as he waits for Leonard. When he gets up to the counter, Leonard quickly scribbles on a pad he'd set nearby.

You know. Just in case.

**This is faster for me than texting. Hope you can read it.**   
**What will it be ~~today~~ tonight? **   
**I'll work on some orders while you decide.**

He slides the pad over to Jim, hearing him give a quiet chuff of laughter. It's not quite a chuckle or a grunt and Leonard doesn't think he's heard anything quite like it before, but he likes it.

Jim steps to the side, taking the pad and pen with him, as Leonard takes two more orders before picking up the pad Jim had set on the counter. Jim's writing is perfectly-spaced neat block capitals.

**Your handwriting is awful.**   
**Med student, right?**   
**Work early tomorrow, so decaf tonight.**   
**Dark roast, cream, medium sweet, please.**

After reading the first line, Leonard scowls and Jim gives another one those little laughs. Leonard can't help but smile. He reads the rest of Jim's impeccably-neat handwriting and writes a brief response so he can get started.

**Start UCSF Med in the fall.**   
**Engineering or architecture?**   
**Swiss Water Peru, coming up.**

He pauses for a moment before adding:

**Why the Cubs?**

While he finishes another few orders and gets Jim's started, Jim finishes writing and leans against the counter to watch Leonard work.

When he has a moment, Leonard picks up the pad.

**Aerospace Engineering.**   
**Freshman at UC Davis, but I live in SF.**   
**Why not the Cubs?**

After that he'd drawn a smiley face.

**I'm from Iowa and between the Cards, Brewers and Cubs, the choice was obvious.**   
**And AL teams aren’t even worth considering. Don’t get me started on the DH...**

Leonard chuckles and sets down the pad, handing two customers their coffees before giving Jim his cup. Jim smiles and raises the cup in a toast again before taking a sip. Leonard is starting another order, but when he looks up, Jim gives him a nod and a thumbs up. Leonard pauses to grab the pad and pen, trying to write as quickly and clearly as he can before handing it to Jim.

**Glad you like it.**   
**Totally agree about the DH.**   
**Stay warm and GO CUBS!**

There are enough people in line that Leonard can't take the time to write more, so he hands the pad over for Jim to read, giving him a smile and a wave before turning his attention to the next customer.

\---

When they finally close up an hour later, Janice walks over to him, a folded piece of paper held up between her index and middle fingers and a shit-eating grin on her face. Between the type of paper and the look on Janice's face, he can guess it's from Jim. He reaches for it but she quickly snatches her hand away, hiding the paper behind her back.

"Can I just say you two are adorable?" He starts to speak but she just rolls right over him. "Honestly. You're so sweet, I’m worried about cavities."

"Janice, let me start by telling you that just because I'm from the South does not mean I’m a Southern gentleman." He holds out his hand and she gives him an exaggerated pout. More importantly, she also gives him the paper.

Opening it, he sees it's the same sheet they'd used earlier and at the bottom Jim has added:

**Day game tomorrow.**   
**See you then?**

Underneath that, he'd drawn a pretty accurate stylized "C" Cubs logo.

Leonard smiles and Janice gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Could you do us all a favor?" He looks at her and raises his eyebrow. "Could you at least tell us his name? We keep calling him 'The deaf guy,' which is rude, or 'The guy who keeps flirting with Leonard,' which takes too damned long to say." Janice glances past him and he sees Christine and Geoff watching their exchange.

Leonard shakes his head, laughing. They may give each other metric tons of crap, but these are some his closest friends in the world and the way they're so obviously pleased for him makes his heart swell. He looks back down at the paper, seeing the record of their conversation in his messy scrawl and Jim's precise penmanship, and smiles.

"Jim. His name is Jim."


	3. Day Three: Wednesday

Leonard's in a good mood, looking forward to his Wednesday lunch with Mama and, especially, his chance to see Jim again. Between the local workers and the folks going to the game, the pace is busier than usual, and he's already regretting the fact that he's not going to have much time to talk with Jim.

About half an hour before game time, Geoff walks by and whispers, "He's here." Leonard's head shoots up and he scans the line stretching out the door, looking for Jim's blue Cubs beanie and black headphones. He sees nothing but Giants' orange and black before noticing a blond man waving at him. Apparently in deference to the warm weather, Jim has decided to forego his usual headgear.

_Blond hair, blue eyes and a name that begins with J. I am so fucked._

As Leonard waves back, he sees Jim turn to a beautiful black woman standing next to him who glances at Leonard before looking back at Jim and gesturing to him, her hands quick and fluid. Jim nods and his hands begin a series of rapid-fire movements before it finally dawns on Leonard that they're speaking in sign language. It also dawns to him that this is probably Jim's primary means of communication.

_I am the stupidest person who's ever lived._

He refocuses on his work, but keeps an eye on Jim and his friend whenever he can. As they move up in line, he realizes that another man is with them, mainly just observing the conversation, though occasionally adding a comment. He's fascinated by how Jim and the woman talk not just with their hands, but their entire bodies – especially their faces – to convey their message. By contrast, the other man is almost unnaturally still, even when signing. His hands move as quickly and smoothly as the others', but the rest of his body appears immobile, his face blank. Leonard finds it a little disconcerting.

After he's handed a couple of customers their coffees, he waves Jim and his friends over. Jim is still talking with the woman as the three approach the counter, and he doesn't appear happy with whatever she's saying. She holds her hands up to Jim in a placating gesture; it seems to work because Jim calms and turns to Leonard with a shy smile.

"You must be Leonard." She's signing as she speaks, and he can see Jim's eyes flick between his face and her hands. The woman's smile is lovely, but years of cotillions and church socials have taught him how a woman looks when she's evaluating someone. He knows he's being judged. "Jim's spoken of you often."

"Has he?" Leonard looks at Jim and raises his eyebrow. Jim just grins, shrugs his shoulders and begins signing to the woman, who nods in agreement. Leonard takes the time to hand two more customers their orders and returns his attention to the trio in front of him.

"Jim's just reminding us that you've got work to do. Sorry about that." She gives him a genuine smile and Leonard decides he likes this friend of Jim's. "Jim's going to the game and said he'd like you to pick something that would be good iced, milk, very sweet. Large." Code 33, Leonard decides, as she continues. "I'd like a small Wonderbar, hot, light sweet, almond milk. Spock?"

Leonard is about to ask her what a Spock is when she turns to the other man who's been hovering over her as if standing guard. "Large Yerba Mate, light honey, please." The man's voice is a pleasant baritone, but practically devoid of inflection.

"I'll get those started for you." Leonard gets the mate and coffees going and takes another order from the man at the head of the line. The woman and Spock both wear badges with a familiar light blue logo on them. Since she and Jim are still talking, he turns to Spock. "So, you work at UCSF?"

"Nyota and I are in audiology research and are currently working on a project to develop an alternative to the cochlear implant." He watches Jim and the woman, Nyota apparently, continue to talk.

As he adds water and stirs grounds, he wonders what Jim and his friends are talking about and can't help but be curious about whether he’s the topic of their conversation.

_This must be a little bit like not being able to hear what people are saying, I guess._

He leaves for a cup of ice and notices how Jim's eyes follow him as he walks back to his station. He smiles and Leonard smiles back before returning his attention to the orders in front of him.

As he hands over their cups, Nyota says, "I'm sorry we didn't have more time to chat, but I'm sure we'll see each other again." Her expression is open and warm without any hint that she's trying to warn him or something. He relaxes and feels as if he's passed some kind of test.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Nyota, but could you ask Jim a question for me?" He glances at Jim who raises his cup in his now customary toast before taking a sip and giving Leonard a thumbs up. Leonard smiles.

"Just Nyota, please." She sets her cup down and gets Jim's attention. "What would you like to ask him?" All three of them look at Leonard.

_No pressure, Leo._

"I'm just curious if he'd be stopping by again tomorrow. Seeing as today's the last game of the Cubs' series." He looks up to see there are still a good dozen people in line. "Sorry, but I should help these folks."

"Oh, of course!" As they step aside and continue their conversation, Leonard takes a few more orders, finally looking over when he has a moment. Jim's smiling at him and Nyota looks pleased.

"Jim says he's sorry but he has to go to Davis tomorrow. He'll be here Friday, though." Jim must notice the expression on Leonard's face, because his smile fades, brows drawing together.

"I actually work four-tens, so Thursday's my last day this week. I'll be back on Monday, if..." Jim turns to Nyota, who explains the situation and Jim nods, looking back at him.

"He'll see you Monday at the 'usual time.' Whenever that is." Leonard smiles and nods at Jim, who's giving him a grin. Nyota chuckles. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Leonard."

"You, too, Nyota, Spock." Spock just nods at him and Nyota touches Jim's arm to get his attention. The three make their way to the cash register as a thought strikes Leonard and he steps over to the counter near where they're waiting to pay. "I'm sorry, but one more thing?"

Nyota stops her conversation with Jim and Spock and the three look over at Leonard who makes sure he has Jim's full attention before silently mouthing, "Go Cubs!"

Jim gives a chuff of laughter as his smile widens and Nyota giggles. He gives Jim a wave goodbye before hurrying back to his station, purposefully ignoring the stares of his coworkers.

\---

Lunch with Mama is its usual casual self. He’s already got two freshly-brewed iced teas waiting when she arrives with an enormous carnitas burrito from La Palma. They spend twenty minutes working together to demolish the burrito while chatting about everything and nothing. Afterward, they take their teas and walk the two blocks to the ballpark.

The crowd in the viewing gallery is sparse, and it isn’t long before a few people depart and Leonard and his mother are able to move to the front. They stay for almost two full innings, watching as Lincecum retires the side twice and the Giants score a run. Mama complains about Rizzo’s huge contract and how “he’s not worth the powder to blow him up” as Leonard absently agrees, his gaze fixed on the stands, vainly searching for a familiar bright blond head.


	4. Day Four: Thursday

When he first arrived at work, Leonard had been disappointed that he wasn’t going to be seeing Jim today, but also a little bit relieved. Their brief meetings were exciting, but they were also sweetly awkward and embarrassingly public, which made them somewhat nerve-wracking. So, he’d been expecting just another busy-yet-mindless day of order, brew, serve.

Now, he’s wondering how the hell he could’ve forgotten he works with the Most Annoying People Ever.

He’s barely started his day, enjoying the slower pace due to the lull between the breakfast and lunch rush, when Janice sidles up to him as she's walking by. “If you’re going through withdrawals, you could just text him.”

“Text who?” Leonard’s been kicking himself for not asking Jim for his number yesterday.

_I don’t need to be reminded I screwed up, thankyouverymuch._

He’s granted a reprieve from further conversation when she returns to the cash register, but it’s short-lived. “Don’t tell me you didn’t get his number,” Geoff murmurs as he walks past on his way to get another carton of milk.

“OK, I won’t tell you,” Leonard snaps as Geoff goes by him again. Yesterday was busy and Jim’s friends were there and he was already feeling like an idiot for not realizing Jim spoke sign language. Under the circumstances, he thinks he can be forgiven the oversight.

“I can’t believe you didn’t get his number,” Christine practically hisses at him as she walks over with some bullshit excuse about needing more mint leaves. She pulls a few stems out of his cup of water and Leonard focuses on stirring the grounds in front of him. “Just think of all the sexting you could be doing!” she says as she heads back her station, waving the sprigs of mint in one hand.

Leonard’s neck twinges as his head snaps up from where he’s bent over his station so he can glare at her. Thankfully, while Christine might be evil, she’s not stupid, and there are no customers nearby at the moment.

"Just because your relationship is entirely text-based doesn't mean all of us want to date via cell." Leonard replies, just loud enough to be heard.

Normally, Christine would simply roll her eyes or stick her tongue out at him when he teases her about her long-distance relationship with Roger. (Or Roger the Asshole, as her coworkers call him.) So he's taken aback when her smile dims and her face falls.

He opens his mouth to apologize but is cut off when she calls out to the next customer, her smile wide but brittle. Looking over to Geoff, the two men exchange a worried glance.

Unaware of their earlier exchange, Janice walks by a few moments later, leaning close to whisper in Leonard's ear. “Seriously, I don’t know how you’ve resisted climbing all over him.”

“Dammit, Janice, he’s a man not a set of monkey bars,” he whispers harshly. 

“Who says he can’t be both, Leonard?” She gives him another grin before turning her attention to the customer who's waiting to pay.

\---

Between Leonard's increasing irritation and Christine's somber mood, the conversation turns away from romance and relationships as the post-lunch rush begins and ends, the afternoon becoming evening.

It’s after seven-thirty, the pre-game crowd has thinned, and he’s already thinking about dinner and a long soak in the tub when he looks up to see Nyota waiting in line. She gives him a nod of acknowledgement and he waves her over. “Good to see you again, Nyota. Just a second, please.” He hands off two cups to their respective owners and turns his attention back to her. “What can I get started for you?”

“You, too, Leonard. I’ll have a large green tea, light honey, and a large Yirgacheffe, light sweet, almond milk. In this please,” she says as she hands him a large ceramic travel mug. He notes her pronunciation is perfect and suspects Sign isn’t the only language in which she’s fluent. 

_I wonder..._

He’s contemplating how he’d go about broaching the subject as he gets her order started. Once the noise from the grinder dies, she says, “I’m sorry for ambushing you yesterday. It’s just...Jim kept mentioning you and, frankly, I was curious.”

He waves off her apology and pours water over the tea and then the grounds. “You were just being a good friend.” He gives her a sly smile. “And are you still just being a good friend, coming to check up on me?” She laughs and he adds, “Actually, it’s well past office hours. Shouldn't you be at home?” He notes she’s still wearing her ID badge, though instead of the impressive heels she’d had on yesterday, she’s wearing sneakers with her business casual outfit.

She grimaces. “We’ve got a grant request due tomorrow and, as usual, the people who were supposed to write it have put it off until the last minute, so now the rest of us have to pick up the slack. It’ll probably be midnight before we get out of here.”

“Ouch. I’m sorry to hear that.” He adds almond milk and a spoonful of sugar to the mug.

_There goes that idea._

"Oh, I'm one of the lucky ones." He looks back to her, curious. "Spock got roped into helping to write it, and he hates this kind of thing. Not the writing," she hastens to add, "but the situation." She straightens up from where she had been leaning against the counter and stares at Leonard, eyebrow raised. "'It is illogical to put off a task for so long that there is not enough time to ensure it is done thoroughly and properly. It leads to an inferior product and unnecessary stress.'" Leonard laughs at her impression of her...friend? Boyfriend?

Whatever. It's none of his business.

"Anyway, I'm just one of the people waiting around to do the fact-checking and proofreading after the grant is written." She rolls her eyes. "At the rate they're going, it'll be ten o'clock before it's ready for me to get my mitts on it."

He's about to put her drinks on the counter when he stops for a moment, thinking.

"Leonard?" Nyota looks at him curiously as he finishes handing over the coffee and tea.

"Sorry, I was just wondering..." He takes a deep breath.

_As Daddy used to say: if you don't ask, you don't get._

"May I ask you a favor?" She eyes him for a moment and he barely restrains himself from fidgeting.

"Well, you can _ask_ , anyway." The smile she gives him takes any potential sting out of her words and he decides to just go for it.

Her smile grows wider as he explains what he's hoping to do. She agrees readily and gives him her card as they make plans for him to meet at her office when he gets off work in about half an hour.

He goes over to Nyota's office across the street at eight-fifteen. When he leaves, it's after nine o’clock and he's got her phone number, email address, several minutes' worth of video of her on his phone, a book and a page full of online resources. He gets out his phone to tell his mother he'll be late only to see she's already texted saying she's going out with her "gentleman friend" Ken and not to wait up. On the short bus ride home, he tries not to think about his mother's social life and focuses on the information Nyota gave him instead.

After a quick dinner and shower, Leonard spends the rest of the night surfing, watching videos and practicing in front of the mirror. It's not until he hears the front door open and Mama moving around upstairs that he thinks to look at the clock and realizes it's after one in the morning. He's tired, but when he imagines the look on Jim's face, he decides he can give it another hour.

He gives it three.


	5. Day Five: Friday

It was so late by the time he went to bed that Leonard forgot to set his alarm, so he winds up sleeping until almost noon. After a quick brunch and a cup of tea (he loves coffee, but making it at home is too much of a busman's holiday for his taste), he makes a quick run to the grocery store and farmers market before rushing home to resume practicing. He thinks he's making progress, but watching his reflection is confusing because it's... well... backward. That makes it hard to tell if he's doing it right.

He'd promised Nyota he'd send her some videos so she could give him feedback, but when he tries to use his phone to record himself, he can never get the image centered just right, the lighting isn't good and everything he does looks like absolute crap. He's about ready to throw it out the window when he remembers his laptop has a built-in camera.

To his surprise, it only takes about ten minutes to get it configured properly, and in only a few more, he has a pretty decent 30-second video of himself. He thinks he looks awful and he's doing everything wrong, but at least the image is sharp enough to tell clearly just how much he sucks.

Before he can think about it too much, he sends it off to Nyota for her to critique, following that with three more videos, each accompanied by an apology.

Nyota responds before the hour is out, reassuring him that he's doing great and there's no need to apologize. She includes a few more videos of herself, and he's watching one for probably the twentieth time, sitting forward in his chair, hands moving with increasing rapidity as he tries to get this one _just right_.

"Honey, are you watching porn?" He practically falls out of his chair when he turns around to see his mother standing in the doorway. She's pointedly not looking at him, but has her eyes fixed on the far wall. "Which is fine, of course. But I'd appreciate it if you closed the door because there are some things a mother does _not_ want to know about her son."

"Jesus, Mama, I wasn't watching porn. I was just practicing." Mama turns to him, expression curious and wary.

"'Practicing' what? Or do I not want to know?" She's been looking him in the eye but finally chances a glance down. "Well, you're dressed, so unless you completely failed puberty you can't be practicing mast-"

"MAMA!" He loves his mother, he really does. But sometimes he swears she lives just to embarrass him. 

She doesn't even try to look innocent as she finally walks into the room he’s turned into an office-slash-den, taking a moment to glance around. Since the rooms on the first floor are his, complete with separate entrance, she actually doesn't come down here very often, just like he doesn't usually venture up to the third floor that houses her own suite of rooms. They see each other pretty much every night, most weekends and usually have lunch together on Wednesdays.

He's a 26-year-old, divorced soon-to-be-medical student, but while technically he lives with his mother, this arrangement means he doesn't _live with his mother_. 

"Just...come here." He stands up and moves the chair aside so she can see the laptop.

Her steps are somewhat tentative as she walks over to the desk. "Are you sure? Because I don't..." She stops when she catches sight of the video and watches for a few moments. "Oh, but that's-"

"Yeah." He's watching Nyota's hands, feeling like he'll never be able to get his fingers to move with that level of dexterity.

"That's great, Leo. But why now?" She looks at Leonard as he stops the video playback and turns to face her, feeling shy for some reason.

"Well, there's this guy, Jim, and he's deaf, and-" She throws her arms around him, squeezing tight before pulling back and stretching up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, I want to hear everything. Absolutely everything!" She beams up at him and he feels his cheeks warm. "I ordered from Wild Pepper and it should be here soon. You need to tell me all about Jim. How did you meet and..." She continues to talk as she makes her way upstairs and Leonard stops to shut down his computer. The absence of the screen's glow makes him realize it's getting dark, and the mention of food makes him realize he's starving.

When he reaches the main floor, he apologizes for not making dinner as he usually does on Friday nights. She shrugs it off, already checking the DVR for the recording of that night's Cubs game. By the time the food arrives a few minutes later, Mama's opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. He looks up from setting out the cartons of food to see that the Cubs are already trailing the Reds 1-0.

He smiles at the TV and turns to his mother. "Jim's a Cubs fan."

"Oh, Leo, I love him already." She's grinning ear-to-ear as she helps him open the various cartons and fill their plates. Sitting back down, Mama looks at the TV where the first inning is over and the score hasn't changed. "Still plenty of time to come back." Getting comfortable, she takes a sip of her wine. "OK, now tell me about this young man of yours."

\---

An hour of talking, eating, drinking and yelling at the TV later, he's told her everything he knows about Jim – which turns out to be depressingly little, really – and how they met. Mama's on her second glass of wine and she's smiling at him; he swears her eyes look suspiciously bright.

"Jim and I haven’t even had a real conversation yet. You're not gonna go all Jewish mother weepy-happy on me, are you?" He feigns horror, which isn't hard to do since she can be a little...overly-demonstrative at the best of times. After two glasses of wine, it could get ugly.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do," she deadpans before switching to an exaggerated Yiddish accent. "An engineer isn't a lawyer, of course, but Elter Bubbeh Hannah would be so proud!"

Leonard laughs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure she'd be thrilled with her gay, agnostic great-grandson." He picks up the last pork and shrimp siu mai, holding it up between his chopsticks for emphasis before taking a bite.

Mama just laughs. "Oh, please, she was decades ahead of her time. You never met your great-uncle Marty, but he was gay and Hannah was the only one he came out to." She sets her plate on the coffee table and stands up from the couch. "And Bubbeh loved herself a good cheeseburger." Leonard watches curiously as she stops the DVR playback (4-0 Reds in the 5th, so they're not missing anything) and turns off the TV. "Go ahead and leave the dishes for now. Come on." She picks up her wine glass and heads towards the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Leonard finishes his siu mai and puts his plate on top of the other dirty ones.

"I'm helping you study." She starts making her way downstairs but stops and turns to look over her shoulder. "And bring the bottle of wine. You'll retain more if you're relaxed."

Leonard stares bemusedly at her for a moment before he gets up, grabs his glass and the bottle, and follows her downstairs, laughing and shaking his head.

Yeah, he really loves his mother.


	6. Day Six: Saturday

"I think I'm developing arthritis." He flexes his fingers and imagines he can hear his knuckles creak. Even his elbows and shoulders are starting to twinge when he moves in certain ways.

"Don't be such a drama queen, Leo; it's not attractive." Mama doesn't even bother looking up from reading the book Nyota had loaned him. "I think maybe you're not extending your pinky fully."

Leonard just scowls and takes another bite of his salad.

_There's only one appendage I want to be fully extending to Jim and it's sure as hell not my pinky._

As he chews, he looks up to see his mother staring at him, her eyebrow raised and hazel eyes dancing. He definitely didn't say that out loud, but she's always had an unsettling ability to seemingly read his thoughts. "What?" He knows he sounds like a petulant teenager, but sometimes he can't help himself around her.

"Nothing..." She goes back to reading for the next few minutes, absently eating her salad as she turns the pages. "Do you think you should practice a few sex terms, too?"

Fortunately, he's watching a video on his tablet and not eating or drinking anything, though he thinks he might choke on his own tongue, he inhales so quickly. "No! No, I do not." Even with her head bowed, he can see the smile that's taken over her face. "You," he says, pointing at her with his folk, "are enjoying this far too much."

Her continued silence is all the confirmation he needs.


	7. Day Seven: Sunday

"I think you just called him 'Jin' again, honey."

"Damn it!"

"I still say knowing a few curse words would be useful."

\---

He's at his desk, typing up a response to Nyota's latest email when Mama knocks on the doorframe. "May I come in?" He waves her over, still rereading what he's written before he adds a few more words of thanks and signs off for the night.

He's on his own now.

His stomach begins to clench when he feels Mama's hands on his shoulders, small yet strong, digging into tense and tired muscles. He lets his head fall forward, chin to his chest, as she focuses her efforts on his trapezius and spinous process. "I know it's easy to say, but please try to relax, honey." He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to expel his stress along with his breath. He's only partially successful.

When she stops, he keeps his head bowed, regulating his breathing in an attempt to calm his nerves. He notices her moving out of the corner of his eye and raises his head to see that she's leaning against the desk, a glass of water in her hand. "Here." She holds out her other hand, which is closed into a fist. He instinctively opens his palm and she drops three little white pills into it. "Just some melatonin, but you need to sleep and I know you're going to keep yourself up all night worrying." His first instinct is to argue, but he knows she's right, so he takes the pills, washing them down with the water she hands him.

"I know this will go in one ear and out the other, but it's going to be _fine_ , Leo. Even if you get everything wrong..." He scowls and opens his mouth to respond but she holds up a hand. "...which you will _not_ , the fact that you're trying and going to all this effort...that's what matters."

He nods and takes her hand in his. "I know that, I really do. But nobody wants to make a fool of themselves in front of somebody they like."

"I understand, honey." Her soft smile morphs into a grin. "But just think of what a great story it'll be to tell your kids!"

She chuckles when he lays his head back and groans. "You're evil, you know that?"

Before she can respond, she yawns hugely. "Looks like it's pumpkin-time for me." He gets out of the chair and leans down to envelop her in a tight hug.

"Thanks, Mama. For everything." He kisses her temple and she gives him a squeeze before stretching up to kiss him on the cheek.

“Of course, Leo. Please try to get some sleep and you know you can call any time tomorrow if you need to talk." He nods and she makes her way to the door, stopping just before the threshold and turning back to him. "And I expect a full report when I get home tomorrow."

He laughs. "Of course. Goodnight, Mama. Love you."

"Love you, too, honey. Sweet dreams." She heads upstairs and Leonard stretches, deciding to start getting ready for bed even though he's too tense to feel tired right now. After taking a quick shower and brushing his teeth, he's starting to feel the effects of the melatonin. He only manages a few minutes of practice before his eyelids start drooping, so he shuts down his laptop and climbs into bed. He tries to imagine Jim's reaction tomorrow and falls asleep thinking of smiling blue eyes.


	8. Day Eight: Monday

Leonard sleeps better than he'd expected, but still wakes when he hears Mama leave for work and decides he's not going to bother trying to get back to sleep. After a quick breakfast, he spends the next two hours practicing and another half an hour trying to figure out what to wear. Once he's happy with his appearance (or as happy as he ever gets) it's almost past time for him to leave for work. There's a Muni bus pulling up to the stop just as he gets there and he decides to see this miraculous occurrence as a good omen.

Mondays are their busiest days, and he finds he's actually looking forward to the seemingly endless stream of customers to help keep him distracted. It also means that his co-workers should be too busy to tease him as much as he's sure they want to. His slightly-better-than-usual attire does not go unnoticed, however, and Janice gives him a quiet wolf whistle as he walks by to set up his station. He decides to ignore her, concentrating on setting up the tins of spices and cup of water with its bunch of fresh mint. Once he's got everything laid out just so, he waves over the first customer and gives her his first "What can I get started for you?" of the day.

\---

The day is crawling by just like he feared it would and he spends most of his time replaying his lessons in his head, his hands sometimes moving along almost unconsciously. Once or twice he finds himself unable to properly visualize something and begins to fear he's already forgotten everything he'd spent the weekend learning. On those occasions, he excuses himself to the bathroom and stands in front of the mirror practicing until he's reassured he's doing it right.

After the third trip back from the restroom, Geoff asks if he's all right and Janice tells him she can get somebody to cover for him if he needs to go home. He feels bad for making his friends worry, but he also feels too self-conscious to explain the situation. Deciding to go with a version of the truth, he tells her it's just a combination of too much coffee and nerves about Jim's impending visit. He's mortified because the explanation makes him sound like a lovesick adolescent.

_If the shoe fits..._

Janice gives him a sympathetic smile and pats his arm. "Sorry if we've been teasing you too much about this, but you really don't have any reason to be nervous. It's obvious Jim likes you." He shrugs even though he knows she's right. He's been burned before, so badly that he's avoided anything approaching a real relationship for years, making him feel emotionally stunted when it comes to matters of the heart. 

"I'll talk to Geoff and Christine and ask them to ease off today." They're _coddling_ him and he's vaguely mortified at the idea. His unhappiness must be clear on his face because she holds up a hand. "Don't get me wrong, as soon as you two have stopped dancing around each other and hook up, we will give you endless amounts of shit. But for now, we'll let you have some space."

Leonard knows there's no use arguing with her, so he accepts her offer as the gesture of friendship that it is and tries to refocus on his work.

\---

The sun is setting as crowds of people make their way to the CalTrain and Muni stations, braving the stop-and-go traffic that invariably blocks the crosswalks despite the presence of the traffic cops. There's no game tonight and the customers are few. When it's slow like this, one of them will usually take the opportunity to leave early, but today Leonard's sure as hell not going anywhere and both Christine and Geoff have suddenly decided to catch up on all the minor tasks that get left by the wayside.

Normally, Leonard would tease the two of them about how much time they spend together at work. But right now he's more concerned with his own (hopefully) budding romance than trying to get his friends to realize their feelings for one another are more than just friendly.

Leonard knows he should be annoyed by the fact they're hanging around just to eavesdrop on him and Jim, but they've been acting like it's just another day at the shop, neither being too solicitous nor too stand-offish, and he's grateful their consideration. He's been trying not to watch the clock too closely, telling himself that Jim probably won't get there until after seven o’clock, so it makes no sense to start getting anxious until at least six forty-five.

Jim shows up at six-forty.

Leonard's just finishing up an order and has nothing else brewing when he sees Jim enter. He's got a pageboy cap, which he removes once he gets inside, those awful chunky black glasses, a simple tan suit jacket over a blue shirt the same shade as his eyes, dark blue pants and brown oxfords. Looks like they both decided to dress up today and that makes Leonard both more relaxed and more nervous.

He hands off the cup, wishing the customer a good night and wiping his damp palms on the front of his khakis as Jim approaches the counter. Before he can chicken out, Leonard raises his right hand to his forehead, fingers straight, and moves it sharply away, as if saluting. He then holds the same hand before him balled in a fist, pinky raised as he sketches a J in the air, holds the pinky up for another beat and then closes his fist with his thumb carefully placed between his ring finger and pinky.

Jim stops dead, his eyes going wide.

Leonard plows on, feeling more confident now that he's gotten the fingerspelling of Jim's name out of the way. He raises his eyebrows questioningly as he sketches out the last two signs.

[[Hi, Jim. Have a good weekend?]]

Jim's smile is incandescent and Leonard feels his body sag with relief. Jim stares for another moment before finally responding with two simple signs Leonard recognizes and then fingerspelling his name. At least he assumes it's his name. Even at what is probably a fraction of Jim's usual speed, all Leonard can catch is the L at the beginning and D at the end. His name is literally a handful.

[[Good. Thanks, Leonard.]]

As he carefully works through the next set of signs, Jim watches avidly, his eyes flicking between Leonard's hands and his face.

[[What can I get for you?]]

Jim just stares for a moment, before slashing one hand across the other, pointing at Leonard and then placing his open hand on his chest and drawing it away, thumb and middle finger together, as if pulling a string directly from his heart. Leonard feels his breath catch, thinking Jim had just said he likes him, until he realizes he's literally mixed the signs and Jim's actually asking what Leonard likes.

_I like you._

Jim's curious expression doesn't change and Leonard's relieved he hasn't actually said that. He gives Jim a few signs just to confirm he understands.

[[What I like most?]]

Jim gives him the sign for "yes" and Leonard picks up the small tin of cardamom and takes a sniff, holding it out to Jim and indicating that he should do the same. Jim's gets a whiff and gives Leonard a nod, his expression pleased. Leonard grinds up a scoop of Turkish, sprinkling the cardamom over the grounds before pouring the water.

When he looks up, Jim begins signing again, but Leonard can only recognize a couple of signs. He rubs his chest with his closed fist and raises his hand up, shaking his head. This one he's practiced a lot.

[[I'm sorry, I don't understand.]]

Jim signs an apology and gets out his phone while Leonard stirs the coffee grounds until Jim hands the phone over to him.

**Sorry, I got carried away.**   
**When did you learn to sign?**

Leonard types a quick response.

**There's no need to apologize. I'm sorry if I didn't make sense or screwed something up.**   
**Nyota gave me some pointers when I saw her on Thursday and I've been practicing since then.**

Handing back the phone, he adds cream and sugar to the coffee as Jim reads. He's picking a couple of mint leaves when he sees Jim's head snap up, his expression almost awestruck. Leonard smiles and Jim just shakes his head, returning his attention to his phone. Leonard slaps the mint leaves between his palms to release their oils and places them on top of the coffee before setting it on the counter.

Jim slides the phone toward him, and picks up the coffee, raising it in a toast. Leonard smiles and reads Jim's reply.

**Please tell me you didn't waste your weekend practicing!**   
**That's one of the nicest things anybody's ever done for me.**   
**Thank you, Leonard.**   
**I think Nyota and I are going to have a little talk.**

He laughs and looks back at Jim who is taking a sip of his coffee. Leonard hopes he'll get Jim's usual smile and a thumbs up, so when Jim sets the coffee on the counter, he's worried Jim didn't like it. Then Jim grins, raising both hands to give him a double thumbs up. Leonard laughs, giving Jim the sign for "good" before typing a response.

**You're welcome. It's been my pleasure.**   
**It wasn't a waste at all!**   
**I'm happy to do it and it's actually been a lot of fun.**

He thinks about adding more, but he needs to get into the habit of using Sign if he and Jim are ever going to be able to converse normally. And he's been practicing these signs more than any others, so he gives Jim the phone, but when Jim begins to type, Leonard puts his hand on the screen to get his attention. 

He points at Jim, careful to be exact with each sign, watching Jim's smile morph from curious to happy to absolutely beaming. 

[[Would you like to go on a date with me?]]

Before Leonard's even finished the last sign, Jim's got his hand raised, fist moving forward and back in an enthusiastic yes. Leonard laughs and Jim gives one of those huffs of laughter Leonard's already decided he wants to hear more of.

He makes the sign for "Friday" and Jim's smile dims, expression turning apologetic. His hand slashes through the air in a curse that Leonard's now glad he bothered to learn. Jim apologizes and follows up with several signs Leonard doesn't think he's even seen before, so rubs his hand down his forearm, asking Jim to slow down. Jim apologizes again, picks up his phone.

Leonard suddenly realizes there's a customer waiting, but before he can ask one of the others to cover for him, Geoff says, "Don't worry, Leonard, I've got it," and asks the woman for her order. Leonard gives him a nod and a grateful look before returning his attention to Jim, who's holding the phone out for him.

**I'm so sorry, but I have the worst timing ever.**   
**My brother's getting married this weekend and I'll be in Iowa Thu-M.**  
 **Maybe tomorrow? What's your schedule?**  
 **I work 8am-5pm, M-F.**

He tries to cover his disappointment, but Leonard's been thinking about this almost nonstop for the last five days. When he looks up at Jim, he's apologizing again and Leonard mouths "It's OK," before starting to type.

**Please don't apologize! We both have terrible timing.**   
**Actually, I say it's your brother's fault for getting married this weekend!**   
**I'm here M-Th 9:30A-8:30P.**   
**Unfortunately, we've got someone out Tue and Wed so I can't leave early.**   
**Late dinner on Wed?**

Jim looks up from the phone with a rueful smile before he starts typing.

_Guess that won't work, either._

Leonard notices Christine and Geoff quietly cleaning up, keeping an eye on what's going on without being too obvious about it. He appreciates their attempt at discretion.

His stomach falls again when he reads Jim's reply. 

**My flight's on Wed night.**   
**I'll be back Mon. Next week?**   
**You don't know how sorry I am, Leonard.**

He tips his head back and groans at their awful luck and when he sees Jim's worried expression, Leonard rushes to reassure him that everything's fine. Without thinking about it, he gives Jim an exaggerated grimace and shakes his clenched fists in frustration. Jim mouths "I know!" and throws his hands in the air.

They're both smiling and shaking their heads, clearly on the same page, and Leonard types his reply.

**I think I know exactly how sorry you are, because it's how sorry I am!**   
**The manager will be out next week and guess who gets to cover for her?**   
**Please tell me you're free next Friday.**   
**No other siblings getting married?**

Jim's brow furrows as he reads, at one point looking at Leonard and rolling his eyes before continuing. He laughs silently, putting the phone down to respond in sign, most of which Leonard understands or can figure out from context.

[[Yes, next Friday. No, no one getting married.]]

Before Leonard can respond, Jim holds up a hand and begins tapping away on his phone. When he hands it over a moment later, instead of the usual text window, the top of the screen reads "New Contact" and Jim has already entered his name in the "First Name" box. Grinning, Leonard adds his last name, cell, work and home phones and his email address before handing it back. Jim's shoulders shake with another silent laugh before he types a bit more.

Leonard expects him to hand the phone back, but instead he just smiles and glances around Leonard's station expectantly. When a few seconds pass and nothing happens, Jim just looks confused and holds his hand up to his ear in the ubiquitous sign for "phone." It finally strikes Leonard that Jim must be waiting for him to answer the text he's guessing Jim just sent. In a pretty laid back workplace, one of the few hard-and-fast rules is that they're not allowed to have their cells with them when they're working. It's almost closing time, and he knows nobody's going to care, so he gives the sign asking Jim to hold on and runs to his locker to get his phone out of his jacket pocket.

Not wanting to keep Jim waiting, he doesn't check his phone until he's back at his station and sees there's a new message from Jim Kirk.

**How do you feel about Japanese food?**

Leonard doesn't think he's smiled this much in years and he shakes his head at the sense of giddiness he feels as he types a reply.

**If it's cooked, I love it. Raw? Not so much. ;)**

He hits "send" and looks at Jim as the two of them wait for the text to arrive, grinning at each other like absolute fools. A few seconds later, he can hear Jim's phone buzz and watches Jim as he reads the message. Jim holds up a hand, asking Leonard to wait, and spends several seconds tapping and swiping, finally giving a little fist pump and beaming at Leonard. They repeat their foolish staring until his phone chimes and he reads Jim's text.

**We've got a table at Nojo for 6:45 next Friday.**

Leonard gives Jim a smile and a thumbs up and Jim laughs. Out of the corner of his eye, Leonard catches Geoff, Christine and Janice chatting as they surreptitiously watch the goings on. He wants to keep talking with Jim, but it's getting late and he feels like he's cleared the biggest hurdle in the developing relationship between the two of them. He types up another message.

**I'd love to chat some more, but I should probably clean up. Yay.**   
**You take the bus home? Where do you live, btw?**   
**Is it OK if I text you again?**

Jim reads the text then looks around as if noticing his surroundings for the first time and gives Leonard an apologetic look that Leonard just waves off with a smile. As Jim types, Leonard starts wiping down the counter, picking up the phone when Jim's text arrives.

**Sorry, I lost track of time.**   
**Guess I should get home and get some sleep so I can go to work and be all responsible and stuff.**   
**I hate being a grownup sometimes.**   
**Yeah, I'm at the mercy of Muni.**   
**I'm in Hayes Valley. You?**   
**Feel free to text any time. Or email. Telegraph. Skywriting...**

Leonard's chest warms as he reads Jim's open eagerness, laughing at his silly sense of humor. While he's thinking of it, he adds Jim's number to his contacts and hands the phone over so he can add the rest of his contact information. He tosses the used filters and grounds into the compost bin, wiping his hands off so he can take his phone back. He notes Jim's added his home and work phone numbers as well as email address. As he reads, another text arrives.

**The home phone is TTY, which is kind of outdated. I rarely use it, but it's there just in case.**   
**If you call, you get an operator who types up what you say.**   
**I read it and type a reply that the operator reads to you.**   
**Clumsy, but nice to have as a backup.**   
**Thank God for texting!**

As he reads, Leonard experiences another one of those "duh" moments about the obstacles Jim has to overcome on a daily basis.

**Wow, texting must have changed your life!**   
**I'm really glad to have this technology, but I hope you'll put up with my bad signing because I really like talking to you directly.**

After Jim finishes reading the text, he puts his phone in his pocket and signs.

[[I like talking to you, too, Leonard.]]

The fingerspelling of his name takes so long that he's tempted to tell Jim to call him Leo, but only his family members call him that, and despite how much he likes Jim already, it still feels too intimate this early in their relationship. He smiles and wants to tell Jim he's glad, but isn't sure of the signs, so he simply gives him the sign meaning "good" and Jim appears satisfied with that. He shrugs his shoulders and begins signing again.

[[Sorry, but I should go home.]]

Leonard nods and follows Jim as he heads toward the cash register, reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

"Don't you dare let him pay, Leonard," Janice calls out from the other side of the shop where she's still huddled with Christine and Geoff. "This one's on the house."

Leonard smiles his gratitude and waves Jim off when he tries to hand over some cash. Jim shakes his head and tries again, but Leonard just holds up his hands and points over at Janice. He knows it's not anything even approaching real sign language, but he puts his hands on his throat and mimics being choked, then mouths "She'll kill me."

Jim laughs his understanding and puts away the twenty before pulling out a few ones and stuffing them in the tip jar. Turning to Janice, Jim moves his flattened hand from his chin outward toward her. Janice glances in Leonard's direction questioningly. "That means 'thank you.' 'You're welcome' is just the same sign." She repeats Jim's gesture and the two exchange smiles before Jim turns his attention back to Leonard, who takes a chance with some pidgin sign and hopes it makes sense.

[[Text me when you get home?]]

Jim grins and holds up his phone, giving it a little shake before pocketing it and bringing his hand from his chin to cover his fist.

[[Promise.]]

Leonard signs a thank-you and wishes him a good night. Jim signs back, picking up his coffee and giving everybody a wave goodbye. He gives Leonard another smaller wave and steps outside into the chilly night. Leonard watches as Jim stops and turns back, raising his coffee in salute before finally heading across the street.

Feeling a hand on his arm, Leoanrd turns around to see Janice, Geoff and Christine standing there grinning at him. Before he can say anything, Christine steps up and puts her hands on his cheeks, squeezing them together and making his lips stick out like a fish. "OK, who are you and what have you done with Leonard McCoy?"

"Honestly, that's the sweetest thing I've ever seen." Geoff smiles, chuckling as Christine continues to manhandle Leonard's face. "You should've told us you were learning to sign, we could have helped you practice. Actually, it would probably be a good idea if you taught us a few basic signs since Jim's not our only deaf customer."

Leonard finally reaches up and gently pulls Christine's hands away, but keeps hold of her wrists because he doesn't trust her not to try it again. "If I told you, you'd have just given me shit all day and don't even try to deny it. But you're right about learning some signs. I'd be happy to help with that." He struggles to keep hold of Christine's hands because he just knows she's going to go for his face again.

"Oh, please, we'd have given you shit anyway. It's what we _do_." Geoff pulls Christine away from Leonard, who finally lets go of her wrists. "Stop mauling him, he's been through enough today." She gives an exaggerated pout and Geoff looks back at Leonard. "But we'll still help you practice, even though you went all stealth Romeo on us."

"Gee, thanks." Leonard rolls his eyes, but can't stop his smile, either. These three are good friends and he knows they've got his back.

"Just one favor, Leonard?" Janice asks. He looks at her curiously. "Consult me and Christine about bridesmaids' dresses because from what I can see, neither of you has a lick of fashion sense."

Christine nods and Geoff just grins. "She's right, Leonard." He gives him a slow, critical look from head to toe. "I mean...that shirt with those pants?"

With a groan, Leonard drops his head into his hands as the three of them laugh.

He takes it back: he hates them all.

\----

He's almost done cleaning up when his text alert chimes.

**Home!**   
**Muni was not merciful, but I had an excellent cup of coffee to keep me warm during the wait. *g***   
**Thanks again, Leonard. That was just so nice of you...words fail me.**   
**And Nyota would tell you that doesn't happen often. *g***   
**Thank your friend for the coffee again and I hope I didn't cause too much trouble.**   
**Text me when you get home?**

Leonard smiles and types a quick response.

**Sorry about the wait but glad you're home at last.**   
**It's really my pleasure.**  
 **You may not be so thankful after suffering through my bad signing a few more times. ;)**  
 **Janice is a sweetheart, but don't you dare tell her I said that! :D**  
 **It'll be a bit late, but I'll text you when I get home.**

After sending the text and putting his phone away, he reaches for the rag on the counter, but it's not there. Looking around, he sees Janice holding it up and grinning at him. Before he can apologize, she says, "Go home, Leonard. It's only ten minutes and you're lost in Jim-land anyway." He tries to say something but she just waves him off. "Shoo! My teeth hurt from all this sweetness and we all need a break from the pheromones you've been giving off since Jim came in." She effectively ends the conversation by turning away and picking up the drip cones to put in the dishwasher.

"Thanks, Janice." She waves at him as he heads back to get his jacket and scarf. The app on his phone tells him his bus is only two minutes out, so he calls out a quick "Goodnight and thanks!" as he rushes out the door and makes it to the stop just in time. He flops into a seat near the back and takes a minute to catch his breath as he reads Jim's response.

**Your Sign isn't bad at all!**   
**We'll have you speaking like one of us in no time.**   
**"One of us, one of us!" *g***   
**Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.**

He swears his face is sore from all the smiling he's been doing recently. Due to the late hour, the trip home is relatively quick and he texts Jim once he's inside.

**Just got home.**   
**Guess I got all the Muni luck tonight. :)**   
**I look forward to more lessons, then. Tomorrow?**

He's getting ready for his post-work shower when Jim's reply arrives.

**So, it's all your fault my bus was late! *g***   
**It's like that comic book superhero that was impossibly lucky but when he was, somebody else had bad luck because there was only a finite amount of luck in the world.**   
**Did I just out myself as a comic book geek?**   
**I think I did. *nervous***   
**Definitely tomorrow. Same time?**

Leonard can't keep himself from laughing at Jim's response. He keeps having to stop and correct typos because he's trying to type too fast.

**Yes, I'm Longshot.**   
**You've managed to uncover my secret identity!**   
***shakes fist* Jiiiiiiiim!**   
**Wait...does that make you my nemesis?**   
**And I'll show you my longboxes if you show me yours. ;D**   
**Definitely see you tomorrow, though there's a game so it'll be busy. :/**   
**I need to shower and de-coffee, so if I don't reply immediately that's why.**

Once he's taken what probably the fastest shower ever, he hastily dries himself off and picks up the phone to see Jim's reply.

**OMG, you're too perfect!**   
**I think knowing your secret identity actually makes me your sidekick.**   
**Or girlfriend. *g***   
**Every issue is in a plastic sleeve, right?**   
**Otherwise, we will have WORDS.**   
**Is it OK to text you during work hours?**

Leonard shakes his head, laughing as he types.

**I'm so far from perfect...I can't even see perfect from where I am. :)**   
**Let's stick with sidekick, because girlfriend...the less said about that, the better. ;)**

He pauses for a moment, sobering at the thought of having that particular conversation, deciding he'll bring it up sooner rather than later, just so it's out of the way. Setting that thought aside, he focuses on their conversation.

**Of course they're sleeved! What kind of a philistine do you take me for?!**   
**I keep my phone in my locker, but I check it during breaks, so please feel free to text.**

After sending his message, he gets dressed and is just putting on some socks when he hears footsteps on the stairs; soon Mama appears in the doorway, a cardboard box in her hands. "So, how did it go today?" His text alert sounds again and he glances at the phone before turning to face his mother, his smile wide. 

"Excellent!" She grins as she walks into the room and hands over the box. "This arrived today." Based on its weight, he knows it's his first batch of medical school textbooks. "My son, the doctor," she says fondly. He smiles and takes the box over to his desk, using the corner of the box to push a few things out of the way before he can set it down. Walking back over to his mother, she gives him a hug and a peck on the cheek before gesturing toward his phone. "I'll let you chat, but there's roast chicken waiting for you and I want to hear all the juicy details."

He just rolls his eyes. "I'll be up in a few, but I assure you there are no 'juicy' details. And even if there were, I'm not going to share them." She gives him an eyeroll right back. "Besides, weren't you the one who said there are some things a mother doesn't want to know about her son?"

"Don't use my own words against me, Leo. It's ungentlemanly." He just shakes his head. "Take your time, but I'll be in the kitchen and I know you have to eat sometime." She stares at him pointedly and then gives him a soft smile before heading back upstairs. "Tell Jim I say hi," she calls out as she makes her way back to the main level of the house. Leonard just chuckles and picks up the phone.

**I don't know, Leonard**   
**You look pretty perfect from where I'm standing.**

He almost swallows his tongue.

**Don't we all have a bad girlfriend story? I've got a couple.**   
**I'm relieved we don't need to do Care & Feeding of Comics 101. *g***   
**They're boarded, too, right?**

As he's reading, another text arrives.

**Sorry, was I too forward?**   
**It's been a while since I sent the last text.**   
**You've been pretty prompt, so maybe I screwed up?**   
**Because if I did I'm really sorry and apologize if I offended you or anything.**   
**Sorry.**

Leonard's heart sinks and he rushes to reassure Jim.

**No I'm sorry! Just got delayed in reading your text.**   
**Please don't worry that you offended me by paying me such a nice compliment. :)**   
**Though now I think you need to get those glasses checked. ;D**   
**I'll see you a couple of "bad girlfriend" stories and raise you an "I married her."**   
**I was 18 and it was over by the time I was 19. We’re still friends, but...**   
**Far too complicated for texting. ;)**   
**How old are you, btw?**   
**I'm 26. Live in the same house w/my mother but not in a creepy loser way, just a "rent in SF is crazy" way.**   
**Does that even make sense?**

While he waits for a response, Leonard tidies up his bedroom and bathroom, then starts deciding what he'll wear tomorrow. He keeps his phone clutched in one hand as he sorts through shirts and pants. Soon he starts to worry that mentioning his marriage and his mother all at once has put Jim off, and Leonard wouldn't blame him. His stomach has started churning when he finally hears the text alert and almost drops his phone in his haste to read what Jim has to say.

**Sorry! Got caught in a three-way exchange with people from work.**   
**Wow, that was unintentionally dirty, wasn't it?**   
**Anyway, couldn't respond until we finished.**   
**Which also seems unintentionally dirty. *g***   
**Sorry for my text mini-breakdown and I promise I'm usually not that needy.**   
**Does your phone have IM? That may be better since it's more immediate..**   
**Your marriage beats my chain of broken-hearted girlfriends.**   
**So, you win! Yay?**   
**I agree a teen wedding has got to be a story too complex for text.**   
**Definitely a tale for email.**   
**I'm 22 and totally get the rent thing. If my step-dad's family didn't own properties here, I'd be living in the dorms in Davis.**

Leonard feels his entire body sag with relief as he reads, laughing at Jim's double entendre. His stomach grumbles, reminding him that he hasn't eaten since lunch and he only had a few bites of that, his appetite dulled by nerves. Now that they've both had their mini-breakdowns, as Jim called them, he feels more confident as he types out his reply.

**No problem.**  
 **I'm just glad your three-way was good and everybody finished.**  
 **That was intentionally dirty, btw. ;)**  
 **Text is great, but still can lead to a lot of miscommunication and I think we've both experienced that tonight.**   
**Email is definitely better for long tales but face-to-face is always better.**  
 **Now that one was unintentionally dirty. ;D**  
 **My phone probably does have IM, but I'm rather technically un-inclined but I'll try to figure it out.**  
 **I'm really glad you don't live in the dorms in Davis. :)**

He goes back to picking out clothes, deciding on a green shirt and pair of khakis, when Jim's response arrives.

**Who doesn't love a good three-way? *innocent***   
**I agree about face-to-face being better and leave it at that.**   
**I'm very technically inclined, so if you need help, I can give you a hand tomorrow.**   
**Was that unintentionally dirty? I can't even tell anymore.**   
**One result of my three-way was that I need to go into work even earlier than usual, so I should try to get to sleep soon.**   
**Right now, I'm very glad I don't live in Davis.**

"God, Jim, it's you who's too perfect," Leonard mumbles to himself as he types.

**You? Are evil.**   
**I respect that in a person. ;)**   
**If I can't figure out the IM thing, I'd be very happy for you to give me a hand. ;)**   
**Boo to going in early! Does that at least mean you get to leave early?**   
**I should probably eat dinner, anyway.**

He putters around for another couple of minutes until Jim responds.

**I respect anyone with a healthy respect for evil.**   
**My hands are yours to command. *still innocent***   
**Early in probably won't equal early out, but at least I get overtime. Yay!**   
**Food. Food is good. I'll let you go get some.**   
**Also unintentionally dirty. *g***   
**Enjoy your dinner, have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow!**

Leonard chuckles as he types a quick reply.

**There are so many possible responses to that line about hands, that I'm actually drawing a blank. :D**   
**Get some rest and I'll talk to you – and see you – tomorrow.**   
**Sweet dreams, Jim!**

He pockets the phone and heads for the stairs, stopping when it chimes again.

**I think I can guarantee I'll have sweet dreams tonight.**   
**Goodnight, Leonard!**

Putting the phone back in his pocket, Leonard smiles and goes upstairs to have dinner with his mother.


	9. Day Nine: Tuesday

Leonard doesn't remember if he dreamt last night or if those dreams were pleasant, but he wakes up in a better mood than he has in a long time. His first impulse is to text Jim, but he waits until he’s fully awake and eating breakfast before he begins typing out a message.

**Good morning!**  
 **Hope your day's going well so far and you'll get to leave early, too.**  
 **My day's just getting started.**  
 **Looking forward to seeing you tonight.**  
 **Talk to you soon!**

Before he can second-guess himself, he sends the text and focuses on finishing his cereal.

As he’s walking out the door about 30 minutes later, he hears his text alert but waits until he’s made it to the bottom of the hill before getting out his phone. His house is on the side of one of the city's steeper hills, and between the incline and the uneven sidewalk, he's already almost twisted his ankle several times. And that’s when he'd been paying attention.

Once he's at the bus stop, he sits down to wait and read Jim's reply.

**Good morning!**  
 **Not sure when I'll be leaving, but at least we're getting things done.**  
 **Looking forward to seeing you, too.**  
 **Might be the usual time, might be earlier. It'll be up to the UCSF gods.**  
 **Have a good day at work!**

As he reads, Leonard grins then frowns, realizing he's never even thought to ask Jim where he works.

**The UCSF gods can be capricious.**  
 **Which campus?**  
 **What do you do there?**

The bus arrives soon after and it's a quick ride to China Basin. Just before Leonard reaches the store, he checks his phone one more time and sees Jim's responded.

**They are indeed flighty, those gods, but they pay well.**  
 **I'm a floater for the IT department, but usually work at Parnassus. Sometimes Mission Bay.**  
 **Today's a Parn day, which is annoying because there's really no good places to eat around here.**

Leonard stops, confused. The Parnassus campus is miles away, literally halfway across the city, out by Golden Gate Park. And Hayes Valley is about halfway between Parnassus and China Basin, which means that Jim will be going past his house just to get here. He can't in good conscience expect Jim to come all the way out here after a full day of work. He'd assumed Jim worked at either the campus across the street or the one nearby in Mission Bay.

Checking the time, he sees there are still a few minutes before he's due in, so he starts typing.

**Parnassus!? I can't ask you to come all the way out here!**  
 **Even with the campus shuttle, that'll take forever.**  
 **I'm looking forward to seeing you, but I'm not worth an hour or whatever it'll take.**  
 **Especially if you end up putting in an extra-long day**  
 **Maybe we can IM on the computer tonight?**  
 **It's time for me to start my shift, so if I miss your reply, I'll get back to you during my break.**  
 **Good luck finding something for lunch and let's chat tonight! :)**

He sends the text and then makes his way into the store, his good mood turned sour. If Jim does the sensible thing and just goes home after work, Leonard won't get to see him as he'd hoped. And if Jim does the nonsensical thing and comes to the shop, Leonard will feel guilty because Jim will have wasted an hour in transit just to spend ten minutes with him.

_I hate no-win scenarios._

The shop is crowded, so it's easy for him to slip in and head back to the lockers without having to talk to anybody. After he puts his stuff away, he checks his phone but there's no new message, so he puts it back in his jacket pocket, closes his locker and heads to the front of the store to start his work day.

\---

Leonard knows he's overreacting. He really does. But as his Aunt Bertie says, he's always been a "sensitive boy." Granted, that's just Southern for being gay, but either way it's still accurate. He and Jim had a great, funny, flirty text exchange, have a date set for next Friday and have the means and the time to chat via text, email and IM. Maybe they can get some kind of video chat set up tonight and talk face-to-face like they were joking about last night.

This is not an obstacle. It's not a detour, speed bump, bump in the road or any other driving-related metaphor. At most, it's a minor inconvenience and he's far more disappointed than the situation calls for. Though how anybody with a pulse could _not_ be disappointed in this situation is beyond him. 

His friends are giving him worried looks and at one point Geoff corners him by the refrigerator while they're getting milk. "Something happen with Jim?" Geoff asks as he leans against the door. Leonard knows he's not going to move until he gets a satisfactory answer and, frankly, Leonard actually wants to talk about this, even though he knows the conversation will by necessity be brief.

"Everything's fine." Geoff's look is skeptical. "Honestly. Just before I got here I found out Jim probably won't be able to make it tonight." Geoff still doesn't appear convinced. "We texted back and forth last night and this morning, but I'm disappointed and annoyed and now I really need the soy milk, please." After giving him another look, Geoff steps aside so Leonard can grab the carton and head back to his station. Surprisingly, he feels a little better now that he's gotten that off his chest.

Still not as good as he'd felt this morning, but better.

\---

As soon as he's on break, he makes a beeline for his locker and checks his phone.

**You are too nice, Leonard!**  
 **It's no problem for me to sit in a comfy van and be driven around for a while.**  
 **Besides, I think it's worth it. *g***  
 **Please don't worry about it and I'll see you later!**

Leonard smiles as he types.

**I should really feel bad about you coming all the way out here.**  
 **But mainly I'm happy that I'll see you tonight after all.**  
 **Though I still think you could be doing something better with your time. ;)**  
 **See you tonight!**

Feeling better, though a little guilty, he makes a point of going over to Geoff and quietly saying, "Jim's coming after all." Geoff's got all four cones going and a customer at the counter, but he gives him a bright smile before Leonard returns to his station in a far happier mood than when he left it.

\---

Because of his later schedule, Leonard can usually find an empty table outside the shop where he can sit and enjoy his lunch. Today is no exception, and while the air carries the normal June chill, the sun is warm. He's determined to do all the assigned reading before classes start, so he's got his skeletal anatomy textbook to review while he eats.

He's already checked his phone but had no new messages and figured Jim must be in the middle of whatever project had required him to go in early today. Leonard's just opened his textbook to begin reviewing the carpals when a shadow falls over him as somebody comes to stand next to the table. Without lifting his head, he waves at one of the empty chairs, assuming the person just wants to borrow one. Instead, the person – man, if the loafers and chinos are any indication – doesn't move.

_No, you can't have a dollar. No, I don't know the time. No, I don't wanna buy weed._

Hoping the guy will take the hint, Leonard keeps his head down for a few more moments until a paper bag from the Panera across the street is set on the table in front of him. His head shoots up, ready to give the guy a piece of his mind...

...only to see Jim standing there, smirking. He's got his arms crossed in an X over his chest, pointer and middle fingers of each hand formed into a V and hooked over his clavicles. When Jim sees that Leonard's finally noticed him, he brings his arm down and sketches a little salute before fingerspelling Leonard's name.

Smiling, Leonard returns the greeting, grateful for Jim's much-shorter name. He's pleased to see him here so early and wants to know why he's here, but his curiosity has been piqued. He mimics Jim's earlier pose and gives him a quizzical look. Jim just smiles and mouths, "Bones." The confusion must be obvious on Leonard's face because Jim does the sign again before pointing at the skeletal hand pictured on the page of his textbook and repeating, "Bones."

Leonard laughs, and Jim smiles in response as he begins to sign.

[[I should call you Bones. Much easier than Leonard.]]

Shaking his head, Leonard gestures to the chair next to him in invitation. Jim takes a seat and signs his thanks as he points to the textbook again.

[[Why that book?]]

Leonard shakes his head, closing the book and setting it aside as he tries to figure out how to reply.

[[I want to read all the books before I start school.]]

Jim grins and gives a few signs before slowly fingerspelling a word that Leonard can't quite understand. He asks Jim to repeat it, laughing delightedly once he figures out what Jim's signing.

[[Good for you, Hermione.]]

Leonard's still chuckling as he responds, fingerspelling the last word very slowly for emphasis.

[[You are a G-E-E-K.]]

Now it's Jim's turn to laugh, and he just nods in agreement. Raising his hands again, Leonard thinks for a moment before signing.

[[It's good to see you, but why are you here now?]]

Jim begins responding, but Leonard is only catching about every other sign, so he holds up his hand, face apologetic and asks Jim to stop. Grabbing his tablet out of his backpack, he opens the word processing app.

**Sorry, this is probably the better way for now. So, to what do I owe the honor of your presence this early?**

Handing over the tablet, Leonard watches as Jim reads and chuckles quietly at the question. He takes a moment typing up a reply, and Leonard just watches, enjoying the way the sun highlights Jim's hair and the how his nimble fingers dance over the screen of the tablet.

_Boy, you have got it sooooo bad..._

Once he's done, Jim hands the tablet back before picking up the Panera bag and gestures at it, asking if it would be OK for him to eat his lunch. Leonard gives him an encouraging nod and begins reading, trying not to think about Jim watching with the same besotted scrutiny that Leonard had given him earlier.

**You should definitely be honored! The UCSF gods decided we'd done enough damage at Parnassus today and sent us here a couple of hours ago. We've wrapped things up here for now, so after lunch we're headed to Mission Bay for the rest of the afternoon.**

**But tomorrow we're supposed to be here all day, starting at 6am. Yay? I can get away at pretty much any time, so do you want to meet for lunch?**

Leonard's smile is wide and he looks up to see Jim watching him intently as he chews his sandwich. Jim's eyes light up when Leonard gives him a quick nod as he sets the tablet aside.

[[Tomorrow is great. I usually eat at two o'clock. Is that too late?]]

Jim sets his sandwich down.

[[Great! It will be a 12-hour day, so two o'clock is fine. Where do you want to meet?]]

Leonard can't quite figure out how to sign a response, so he picks up the tablet again.

**How about the place in the UCSF building – the one with the salad bar? 2:00 tomorrow. If the UCSF gods change their mind, just text me.**

He hands the tablet over and picks up the glass bowl of leftover pasta he'd heated up for lunch.

Jim signs a quick and enthusiastic reply.

[[I'll be there!]]

They smile at each other before returning their attention to their food. Using a combination of Sign and typing, they are able to actually have a real conversation for the first time. It's a little awkward and means it takes a while to eat their lunches, but they find out more about one another in the 45 minutes they chat than in the week since they first met.

Leonard learns that Jim's always had a love of technology and a head for understanding complex mechanical and computerized systems. Right now, he's part of a team in charge of rolling out a new software package across all the UCSF campuses that will replace a few of the antiquated ones currently used to track the tens of thousands of patient records in the system. He asks Jim a little bit more about the program and computerized medical records-keeping in general and Jim is happy to tell him about it. 

While he may not be the most technically adept person, Leonard knows all but the smallest practices use some kind of computerized system to track patient records. Even in pre-med, they had classes on the subject and he knows accurate record-keeping can sometimes make the difference between life and death. He tells Jim that if he wants to be the best doctor possible, he'll need to know how to do even the seemingly mundane things like making sure a patient's drug allergies are properly noted.

When Jim reads this, he gives Leonard an enthusiastic nod of agreement and spends a few minutes typing before handing the tablet back. He reads Jim's tale about how he was part of a humanitarian mission to Haiti several months after the 2010 earthquake and had been given an experimental malaria vaccine that caused him to experience a severe reaction. His hands had become hugely swollen, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear he felt because he couldn’t sign, write or even type. His principal means of communication had been removed and he was in a panic until they could bring the swelling down.

Again, Leonard experiences a moment of realization about the limitations Jim has to deal with and how he’s managed to overcome them. He stares at Jim long enough that the other man begins to fidget and gives him a quizzical frown.

Leonard doesn’t know the right signs, so he uses the tablet.

**Just thinking about how amazing you are.**

Jim flushes pink and bows his head, but Leonard can tell that he’s grinning. Looking up, he points at Leonard.

[[You are crazy.]]

Smiling, Leonard just shrugs his shoulders and takes the tablet back before Jim can type a response. Instead he asks Jim about his Haitian trip. Jim explains that he was part of a group that went down to help deaf and hearing-impaired people in some of the hardest-hit parts of the country. Between the destruction, red tape and governmental corruption, they didn't get nearly as much accomplished as they wished, but Jim says he's still very proud of what they were able to do and hopes to go back since there are still so many people who need help. 

Putting the tablet down, Leonard smiles.

[[You are a very good man.]]

Jim blushes again and gestures emphatically at the tablet before responding.

[[Just read, Bones.]]

Leonard quirks an eyebrowe and Jim just grins.

[[Bones is faster than Leonard.]]

As he watches Jim fingerspell his name, Leonard has to agree. Jim waves at the tablet again and Leonard sees that Jim had asked a question about medical school and why Leonard wanted to become a doctor. 

He explains about how he'd always wanted to be the third Dr. McCoy in the family – except for a brief period when he was seven and he decided he wanted to be an archeologist thanks to several viewings of _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. When Jim reads that, he laughs at that and points at himself, mouthing, "Me, too!"

Since their time is limited today, Leonard doesn't go into detail, when Jim asks why he's starting med school at 26, an age when most doctors-to-be are about to begin their residencies. Leonard explains that his father died of ALS six years ago and Leonard took a leave of absence from Ole Miss to help take care of Daddy for the last year of his life. After that, he and his mother moved from Atlanta to San Francisco and Leonard kind of...drifted for a while, trying to decide if medicine was still his passion.

It was and is. However, he had some catching up to do, which is why he finished his undergrad work at 26 instead of 22. But he thinks – no, he knows – that the experiences that delayed his education will make him a better doctor.

Jim's expression is heartbreaking, so full of sympathy and understanding that Leonard wonders what's happened to make him a 22-year-old freshman. So he asks him.

His response is similarly brief as he tells Leonard about his father, killed when the helicopter he was piloting was shot down over Iraq in the first Gulf War at the very same hour Jim was born. Leonard wonders about everything that remains unsaid as Jim mentions a rocky childhood that led to him dropping out of high school and becoming "acquainted with Iowa's juvenile justice system."

When he reads that, Leonard gives Jim a look and the other man just shrugs, expression sheepish.

Jim explains that he finally got himself straightened out with the help of his mother and stepfather, got his GED and did so well in junior college back in Iowa City that he was able to get into UC Davis. By taking a full course load every summer, he'll be able to do the four-year course in three.

Leonard is signing another question when his phone alarm rings, telling him that he's due back at work in five minutes. He's amazed at how quickly the time has flown while he and Jim have chatted. Turning off the alarm, he returns to signing.

[[Sorry, I have to go back to work. Would you like a drink?]]

After waving off the apology, Jim agrees that coffee is a good idea since he still has several hours of work left. When they enter the store, there are a few customers in line and Leonard signs that he'll be right back as he goes to the break room to put his things away and clean up.

When he returns to the front of the store, Jim is standing at Christine's station as she speaks with Jim, using a few of the signs Leonard has been teaching her and his other coworkers. He makes eye contact with Jim, who excuses himself and heads over to Leonard's station, his expression pleased and surprised.

[[They know Sign?]]

Leonard shrugs as he tries to respond, frustrated with his limited vocabulary.

[[They wanted to learn and I'm helping.]]

Jim just shakes his head, and Leonard decides that the way Jim blushes so readily is utterly adorable.

[[What can I get you?]]

The question seems to shake Jim out of his reverie.

[[What I had yesterday. I'd like that again, please.]]

Jim then asks a question, but Leonard isn't familiar with all the signs. He rubs his chest with his fist in apology and indicates he didn't understand the question.

Instead of responding directly, Jim stands on his tiptoes and looks over the counter, pointing at one of the two tins of spices at Leonard's station. Leonard hands over the cardamom and Jim takes a sniff, nodding. He gives the sign meaning "more" and Leonard signs back at Jim, just to confirm.

[[Same as yesterday, but with more of this. Yes?]]

Jim signs his agreement and Leonard grinds the beans, adding an extra pinch of cardamom to the grounds before pouring the water over them. When he looks up again, Jim is watching him with a grin on his face. Leonard smiles back as Janice walks over. "Sorry, Leonard, but we're starting to get busy." He looks up to see the line beginning to make its way out the door. He turns to apologize and she cuts him off with a smile. "Don't worry about it, just wanted to let you know."

She faces Jim and signs an apology before returning to the cash register. Jim steps aside as Leonard calls up the first two customers in line and gets their orders going. He shrugs at Jim, who just laughs and continues to watch Leonard work. After he's finished Jim's coffee, Leonard holds up his hand in the sign for "phone" and Jim trades his iPhone for his coffee. Leonard gets another order started and looks up to see Jim give him two thumbs up.

**That's the Turkish, extra cardamom, medium cream, medium sweet.**  
 **Sorry I can't talk more, but maybe tonight?**

After handing the phone over, he finishes the other orders and starts a few more, picking up the phone while the coffees brew.

**No problem. Sorry for being a pain!**  
 **We can definitely talk tonight. Do you Skype?**  
 **I should get back to work, too**  
 **I'll text you when I get home.**

Leonard smiles and hands the phone back without typing a response.

[[It's fine. Sorry I can't talk more. Yes, please text when you get home. I'll talk to you tonight. I had fun today.]]

They exchange wide smiles as Jim signs a thank-you and tells Leonard he'll talk to him that night. After he's paid, he stops at the door and gives Leonard one more smile before he walks out into the late afternoon sunshine.

\---

The crowd thins and Leonard takes advantage of the lull to take his break and check his phone.

**Hello from Mission Bay!**  
 **The shuttle was running late and the weather is nice, so I walked.**  
 **Sorry if I caused any trouble and please apologize to your manager for me.**  
 **Work beckons so I should get going.**  
 **Chat tonight?**

Recalling Jim’s earlier question while he was still in the shop, he realizes he never answered.

**Definitely chat tonight!**  
 **I haven’t used Skype but I’m sure we can figure it out.**  
 **What with you being a technical genius and all. ;)**  
 **You didn’t cause any trouble at all, so don’t even bother yourself about it.**  
 **Glad you had a nice walk and I hope you’re able to go home soon.**  
 **Talk to you tonight! :)**

On his way back to his station, he tries to apologize to Janice for getting distracted earlier but she doesn’t even let him finish. “Please, Leonard, I think that’s the first time in four years something like that has happened. It’s not even worth worrying about. Besides," she says with a smirk, "I've got money riding on you two."

Leonard just stares at her, speechless, before shaking his head and returning to deal with tonight's pre-game crowd.

\---

Once the doors are closed and locked for the night, his coworkers pepper him with questions about Jim as they wipe down the counters and shake out the floor mats. They're sympathetic as he explains that their first official date won't be until the following Friday since Jim has to go to Iowa for his brother's wedding this weekend. When he tells them that he and Jim are having lunch tomorrow, the three of them exchange knowing looks that Leonard chooses to ignore.

After saying their goodnights, they head for their respective bus stops and Leonard sees his bus isn't due for several minutes, so he takes out his phone to read the text Jim sent less than an hour ago.

**VERY long day, but I'm home at last!**  
 **I should do laundry but will probably put it off another day. *g***  
 **Food, then bath, I think.**  
 **Talk to you tonight, right?**

Trying not to imagine Jim in the tub, Leonard types his reply.

**Yikes! Please tell me you didn't just work 14 hours. :\**  
 **I'm waiting on the 10 now, but it's running late as usual.**  
 **If you're tired, we don't have to talk tonight.**  
 **We're already meeting for lunch tomorrow. :D**

Leonard's frustrated at the idea of not chatting some more, but Jim's put in a hell of a long day already. The text alert sounds as he's getting on the bus.

**It was only 13 hours. Is that better? *g***  
 **We go live in three weeks, so everybody's working long days right now.**  
 **Mine are just a little longer since I'll be gone for three days.**  
 **Besides, if I get tired at work tomorrow, I know just where to go for my caffeine fix.**  
 **I'll be done with my bath soon, but let me know when you're settled in and we'll work on getting you set up on Skype.**

Leonard's suddenly struck with a vision of Jim sitting in the tub, knees sticking out of the water. Probably knobby knees, too, considering how obvious Jim's chicken legs are in his skinny jeans. He cuts off that train of thought and focuses instead on writing a reply.

**You're texting in the tub!?**  
 **If you drop your phone and ruin it I will laugh. And laugh. And laugh some more. ;p**  
 **I should be home in 15 or so. I'll text you then.**

After sending the message, he spends the rest of his ride home trying not to think of Jim, wet and warm, relaxing in the bath. He's largely unsuccessful. The hike up the hill from the bus stop to his house is literally breathtaking and he's grateful for the steps cut into one side of the sidewalk to help make the climb a little easier.

He usually goes directly to his rooms via the private entrance, but decides to use the front door to the main level this time. His stomach rumbles at the smell of his mother's cooking and he can hear her puttering about inside as he makes his way to the kitchen.

"Hi, Mama! So, about lunch tomorrow..."


	10. Day Ten: Wednesday

As usual, Leonard wakes a few minutes before his alarm goes off, but while normally he'd get out of bed immediately, this morning he stays tucked under the duvet, thinking of Jim. It's starting to become a habit.

After he'd gotten home and caught up with his mother, Leonard had taken his dinner down to his rooms – something he rarely did – so he could spend as much time as possible chatting with Jim.

It took only a few helpful texts from Jim before Leonard got Skype set up and connected. A couple of moments spent adjusting webcams and they were able to clearly see one another. Jim wore a dark blue t-shirt with a wide v neck, showing his clavicles and a hint well-defined muscles, the hair at the nape of his neck damp from his bath.

Leonard felt a rush of heat thinking of naked, wet Jim, but made himself focus on the dressed, dry Jim on the screen. After a few moments of silly grinning, they spoke for almost an hour, using a combination of Sign and instant messaging. Unfortunately, they couldn't talk longer; Jim was already yawning by the time they got the session started and Leonard knew he had another long day ahead.

At least half of their time was spent just saying goodnight. Even though Jim's eyelids kept drooping, neither of them wanted to end their too-brief chat.

_You say goodnight first. No, YOU say it first._

Leonard chuckles at the memory and lazes for a few more minutes, anticipating the day to come, until the radio comes on and he gets out of bed to start his day.

\---

He's just boarded the bus when Leonard he gets a text from Jim.

**Good morning! My day's already three hours old. Yay!**  
 **I'm at China Basin all day, so we're a go for lunch.**  
 **Just leaving the store since we have a meeting soon and coffee will be the key to surviving it. *g***  
 **Sorry I missed you, but I think more caffeine will be required before this day is over.**

Leonard laughs, not worried about his fellow passengers' reaction. This is a Muni bus in San Francisco; anything short of a screaming fit or a brandishing a weapon isn't worthy of notice. 

**Another 6am start, huh? I hope this doesn't mean another 13-hour day, too. :\**  
 **I'm just on my way in.**  
 **Sorry I wasn't there, but not TOO sorry because I hate the morning rush. ;)**  
 **Who helped you? I hope their coffee was up to your standards.**  
 **If not, tell me and I'll give someone a talking-to. :)**

The rest of his short ride is uneventful and he figures Jim's in his meeting since he doesn't receive any new texts. He's just putting his things away in his locker when his phone chimes.

**Gemma made me my new favorite.**  
 **It's good, but not as good as yours.**

Leonard knows he looks like an idiot, standing in the middle of the empty break room, staring at his phone and smiling like a besotted fool, but he can't bring himself to care.

**Glad to hear it!**  
 **Can't have you finding a new favorite barista. ;)**  
 **Speaking of...time to get to work.**  
 **See you at 2!**

Text sent, he puts his phone away and heads out to his station, still smiling.

\---

The day game combined with the overcast June afternoon means the normal late-morning lull never happens and the crowd only grows as game time approaches. Everybody already knows he's having lunch with Jim, and he's chosen to forego his morning break so he can take a little more time at lunch. At one-fifty, the game is well underway and the traffic flow has slowed to its normal post-lunch pace.

After a quick trip to the restroom to freshen up and check himself in the mirror, he grabs his phone and backpack before heading out. "Say hi to Jim for us!" Janice calls after him as he leaves and he gives her a wave without bothering to look back.

It only takes a couple of minutes to walk to the cafe. The UCSF campus across the street is made up of two long, parallel buildings with a wide space between them filled with potted greenery, benches and groups of tables and chairs. On the ground floor in the middle of one of the buildings is a small cafe that opens out onto the space. As Leonard walks toward it, he can see the ballpark less than a block away and clearly hear the roar of the crowd. Once he reaches the cafe, he takes out his phone and sees it's still a few minutes before two o’clock and Jim had sent a text that morning.

**Another barista? Perish the thought! *g***  
 **Off to Meeting Hell. See you at lunch!**

As he's reading, another message arrives.

**On my way!**

Leonard has no idea which building and which door Jim might emerge from, so he scans the area as he waits, finally spotting Jim heading toward him from the end of the walkway nearest the stadium. He waves and Jim returns the gesture with a smile.

When he reaches Leonard, Jim signs a quick greeting.

[[Hi, Bones!]]

Leonard just rolls his eyes and Jim's grin widens as he continues.

[[It's perfect. Because you're a doctor, right?]]

Even though he's shaking his head, Leonard can't help but smile as he answers.

[[I'm not a doctor yet. But it's easier than Leonard, so it's OK.]]

Considering how much he struggles with simply fingerspelling his own name, Leonard's not going to begrudge Jim the nickname. Besides, nobody's ever given him a nickname before and he kind of likes it.

Jim gestures for Leonard to go preceed him through the door and they walk over to the salad bar, picking up plates and giving the dozens of salads and toppings a once-over before beginning to make their selections. Leonard goes for his standard assortment of lettuces, vegetables, legumes and roast chicken with balsamic vinaigrette. He notices Jim's plate looks much the same until he adds buffalo chicken and jalapenos, topping it with blue cheese dressing and a healthy squeeze of Sriracha.

As they make their way to the cash register, Leonard eyes Jim's plate warily and glances up at Jim who just smiles and mouths, "I like it hot." Leonard feels his cheeks grow warm and Jim gives a surprised bark of laughter before slamming his mouth closed and looking apologetic. He rubs his closed fist over his chest, saying he's sorry, and Leonard stops him, setting his plate on the scale by the cash register.

While the clerk weighs his plate and calculates the total, Leonard signs a response.

[[It's OK. I like it. You want something to drink?]]

Jim smiles at him and signs "no" while stepping past Leonard to put his plate on the now-empty scale; he points to both plates before handing the clerk some cash. She smiles and weighs Jim's plate before giving him his change. While Jim is paying, Leonard goes to a nearby counter to get them utensils and glasses of ice water. They choose a table outside in the shade and Leonard takes his tablet out of his backpack, powering it on before sitting down across from Jim.

Leonard signs a thank-you and Jim responds in kind before Jim carefully uses his fork and knife to toss his salad, the dressing and hot sauce combining to give the entire thing a pinkish hue. Grinning in amusement, Leonard puts his fork down and starts typing a question when he hears the rhythmic chant coming from the ballpark.

"Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!"

He chuckles, shaking his head and Jim raises his eyebrows, giving him a quizzical look. Leonard stops, wondering if it would be worse to sidestep the question or answer it and maybe remind Jim of what he's missing. Deciding on honesty, he types a quick answer on his tablet and hands it over, a little worried about Jim's response.

**Sorry, it's Giants vs. Dodgers today and the crowd is really getting into it, as they usually do.**

Jim just smiles and nods, giving a silent chuckle and bringing his left hand up to tap on the table as he mouths, "Beat L.A.!" Leonard laughs and nods, realizing belatedly that Jim would easily feel the vibrations of more than 40,000 people chanting in unison when in the stadium. Pointing toward the ballpark, he sets his fork down and signs a quick question.

[[You go often?]]

Jim nods and types out a reply explaining that he's a big baseball fan, has played since he was a kid and is still pretty good at it, too. The Cubs are his favorite, but he'll root for most any team – the Yankees excepted, of course.

They pass their lunch hour much the same way they did yesterday: using Sign for the more basic questions and answers and trading the tablet back and forth for the more complicated ones. Leonard asks about Jim's brother and his fiancée and Jim excitedly tells him about his big brother Sam and his soon-to-be-sister Aurelan. Jim's looking forward to standing up with his brother, though he's nervous about carrying out the "duties and responsibilities" of a best man.

Even though the wedding is being held in Riverside, the only members of the wedding party who actually live in the area are his mother and stepfather, so Jim's been planning Sam's bachelor party remotely via email and with the help of the local wedding planner. When Leonard asks about strippers, Jim laughs and tells him it's just going to be a night out at a local pool hall.

The bachelor and bachelorette parties are tomorrow night, with the rehearsal and dinner on Friday and wedding on Saturday. Everyone will be staying in Cedar Rapids since Riverside is so small it doesn’t even have a hotel. Sam, Aurelan and her family are already there and the rest of the wedding party will be flying in tonight and tomorrow.

His flight is leaving late that night and Jim's excited about it since he loves flying and he tells Leonard he would be a professional pilot if he could. A red-eye to Chicago then a commuter flight to Cedar Rapids will have him in Iowa before nine local time. Leonard gives an exaggerated shudder and types up his response while Jim looks on, confusion evident in his expression.

**I know it's silly, but I hate flying. Especially in smaller planes. I used to love it when I was a kid and we'd go on family vacations overseas, but after my father died, I suddenly became phobic.**

**It doesn't keep me from flying but I hate every minute of it.**

He watches as Jim reads, feeling foolish and a little worried about admitting such a weakness. His stomach tenses as he anticipates Jim's reaction, expecting pity at best, disdain at worst. Once again Jim surprises him, giving him a sympathetic look and reassuring smile before typing up his reply.

**It's not silly at all! Now, my fear of spiders, THAT is silly. *g***

**I think most people get at least a little nervous when they fly since they're putting their lives in the hands of people and technology they don't understand and have no control over.**

**For me, it's easier because I have my pilot's license. Chris, my step-dad, taught me how to fly as a reward for getting my GED. It's just for small aircraft, of course. I'll never get a chance to fly jets, but planes all operate on the same basic principles. Understanding how they work makes them less intimidating and less frightening.**

**If you want, I'd be happy to take you flying sometime and show you what all the buttons and switches do. No pressure, though.**

As he reads, Leonard feels bad for thinking Jim would judge him for what is a very common fear. After the revelation of yet another one of Jim's accomplishments, Leonard stares at him for a second and smiles, shaking his head. Jim looks confused and Leonard types up his reply.

**You're remarkable, you know that?**

**Thank you for the offer. Right now, the idea of flying in anything doesn't sound appealing, but I promise to seriously consider it. I think you're right that it would help.**

When Jim reads this, Leonard is rewarded with a full-face blush and Jim sets the tablet down.

[[You're crazy, you know that?]]

Leonard just laughs and they continue talking until one of the servers asks if she can take their empty plates away and they both realize the cafe is preparing to close. He still has about twenty minutes left of his lunch hour and asks Jim if he'd like to go over to the stadium and try to see some of the game.

Jim demurs because the crowds are always insane when the Dodgers are in town and finding a space in the viewing area would probably be a no-go. He looks uncertain as he begins to sign.

[[I've seen where you work. Would you like to see where I work?]]

Leonard agrees readily, following Jim into the same building that houses the cafe and up to the fourth floor. They walk through an office filled with the standard chest-high cubicles and small offices along the perimeter before coming to a door marked "Server Room." Jim swipes his ID and the card reader beeps, the light changing from red to green. Opening the door, Jim motions Leonard inside, following him in and closing the door behind him.

The room is a little bit warmer than the rest of the office, and contains rows of racks – some of them reaching up to the ceiling – stacked with computer equipment. Their collective hum reverberates around the room and he can even feel the floor vibrating. He looks around for a moment, wondering if there's a desk where Jim works, but all he can see is a lone desk chair in the corner.

Jim raises his arms wide and looks at Leonard, mouthing, "Exciting, right?"

Leonard laughs and Jim smiles at him as he approaches, stopping just a few inches away. He's so fascinated by the way Jim is licking his lips, sometimes tugging at the lower one with his teeth, that it takes Leonard a moment to realize Jim is staring at his mouth. He licks his lips in unconscious imitation of Jim's movements and finally stares directly into those amazing blue eyes behind those ridiculous black glasses.

He's not sure what to say and for the life of him, he can't think of any but the most basic signs, so he falls back on one of the few he can remember, rubbing small circles on his chest with this open hand.

[[Please...]]

Even over the noise of the equipment, he can hear Jim's gasp and Leonard knows his message has been received when Jim leans in and slowly presses his mouth to his. Their noses bump and the edge of Jim's glasses press against his brow, but Leonard is too focused on the softness of Jim's lips against his and the scrape of his mid-day stubble against his own shadowed jaw.

It's sweet and awkward and slow and hesitant and Leonard thinks it's everything a first kiss should be.

Jim's hands come up to rest on Leonard's shoulders and Leonard puts his hands on Jim's waist, feeling the firmness of muscle under his fingers and the jut of bone under his palms. They part to catch their breaths and Leonard chuckles to see the way Jim's glasses are slightly askew. He reaches up slowly and pulls the glasses off, feeling like he's seeing Jim's face for the first time.

Folding the arms of the glasses, he sets them on one of the nearby racks and takes hold of Jim's waist again before leaning in for another kiss. Jim parts his lips and Leonard follows his lead as they trade open-mouthed kisses and Jim slides his hands up until one rests on Leonard's jaw and the other tangles in his hair.

Leonard smoothes his hands up the long muscles of Jim's back and over his shoulder blades. When Jim's tongue touches his, Jim groans and Leonard pulls him closer. He swears he can taste the Sriracha on his tongue and feel the beat of Jim's heart through his chest as they continue to lose themselves in each other.

He loses track of time as they continue to kiss, hands roaming, pressing and tugging but always staying high on one another's body. By unspoken agreement, they keep their lower bodies apart, though the urge to grab Jim's hips and rut against him is getting stronger by the minute.

Focused on Jim's taste, the feel, sound and smell of him, Leonard doesn't know how long it takes before a noise cuts through his lust-dazed senses. He pulls away, holding up a hand when Jim leans forward to kiss him again, and rests his hand on Jim's jaw, thumb rubbing against the other man's kiss-swollen lips. Jim's eyes are wide, pupils dilated, his face flushed and jaw reddened by the scrape of stubble.

Jim licks his lips and Leonard groans in frustration, tipping his head back and staring at the ceiling as he finally recognizes the noise he'd heard earlier and scrabbles in his pocket for his phone. The alarm tells him he should be back at work right now, but he knows he's got some leeway since he skipped his break earlier and Janice apparently has a financial interest in his relationship.

He chuckles at the idea and Jim looks at him, confused, as Leonard holds the phone up to show him the time. Jim's eyes widen and he begins to sign an apology but Leonard stops him with a shake of his head. They stare at one another for a few moments before Jim dips his head and his shoulders begin to shake. Leonard is confused until he hears Jim give one of those artless barks of laughter Leonard's already become so fond of and raises his head to reveal a wide smile.

Relieved, Leonard joins him, laughing at the ridiculousness of their situation. His alarm sounds once more and he turns it off, signing an apology to Jim as he starts to look around for his backpack. He notices Jim's glasses on the rack and hands them over before picking up his backpack, thankful they hadn't managed to step on it since he was so distracted earlier he doesn't even remember setting it down.

Jim holds his glasses up to the light and cringes. Leonard can see the lenses are completely smudged and the two share a sheepish glance as Jim yanks his shirt tail free and uses it to try and clean them. Leonard catches sight of a flash of pale, toned skin, dusted with light brown hairs and has to lock his knees against the overwhelming urge to fall at Jim's feet and taste what had been so carelessly revealed.

He must notice the direction of Leonard's gaze, because the smile Jim gives him is both shy and seductive. Leonard purses his lips and gives Jim an exaggerated finger wag, mouthing, "You are evil." Jim laughs again and Leonard runs his hand through his hair, realizing it had been hopelessly mussed by Jim's eager hands. Jim comes over and they spend a few moments trying to fix Leonard's hair, but Jim's expression tells him it's a wasted effort. 

Leonard asks where the restroom is and Jim signs the directions then tells Leonard he's going to stay behind, which is probably for the best. Looking at Jim standing there, shirt rumpled and partially untucked, he really doesn't want to leave, but while Leonard could blow off his job for the day with a minimum of fuss, this is Jim's workplace and he doesn't want to get him into trouble.

He asks Jim if he'll come by the store and Jim says that he will, though he still has to get home, do laundry and pack before heading to the airport. Leonard thinks he'll be able to take a longer-than-usual break, but he needs to talk with Janice first, so he decides not to mention it just yet. Instead, he tells Jim he'll text him later and then leans in for one more kiss. Which becomes two. Then three. After the fourth, they hold each other at arms' length, laughing as Jim shoos him away.

Before he can open the door, he turns to Jim and hikes his backpack up on his shoulder so he can sign.

[[Thank you again for lunch. I had a great time.]]

Jim smiles.

[[My pleasure. I had a great time, too.]]

With one last grin, Jim repeats his earlier gesture, urging Leonard out the door. With a chuckle and a wave goodbye, he exits and heads straight for the men's room. His hair is indeed a fright, and he doesn't have a comb or brush with him, so he takes a couple of minutes using just his fingers and some water to try and get his hair into something resembling order.

Figuring he's done the best he can, he quickly finds his way to the elevator and jogs the block back to the shop, making a point to run his fingers through his hair as he enters, hoping that his coworkers will assume that's why it's such a mess. Giving Janice a quick apology, he rushes to the back and starts to put his things away in his locker.

"You guys just made out, right?" Looking over his shoulder, he sees Janice poking her head around the door. He just stares at her a moment, gaping. "You didn't have sex or anything did you?"

Leonard continues to goggle at her as he tries to figure out a response, but without any luck. He finally settles on, "What the hell?"

"You two obviously got up to something, I just wanted to know how far it went." She makes it sound as if it's the most innocuous thing in the world.

"Why do you want to know that and why should I tell you?" He's getting more and more annoyed because he's losing his Jim-induced buzz and it's all her fault.

"Because I'm curious and I've got a hundred bucks riding on this." She waves at him to hurry up and he crosses his arms and stares at her. He knows she'll never let it go, so figures he might as well get something out of it.

"I'll tell you," he says, resigned. She grins. "But I get half," he quickly adds.

Her grin becomes a scowl. "Did I say a hundred? I meant fifty." Leonard just glares at her and she rolls her eyes. "Fine! God, you sure are pissy for a guy who just spent his lunch hour making out with his boyfriend."

"Surprisingly, we spent most of our lunch hour actually _eating lunch_." He pauses, enjoying her growing impatience.

"Aaaaand...?"

"And we spent the last fifteen minutes making out," he finally says with a resigned sigh.

"Yes!" She smiles at him for a moment before adding, "Now get back to work," and leaves, closing the door behind her.

Pulling out his phone, he sends Jim a quick text.

**btw, my break's at 6. See you then?**

Smiling, he puts his phone away and gets back to work as instructed.

\---

It's a few minutes before six when Leonard looks up to see Jim standing inside the door chatting with Nyota and Spock. He's glad to see Nyota again since he hasn't had the chance to thank her in person for all the help she'd given him in starting to learn Sign. Still, he can't help feel a little annoyed that he won't have Jim to himself during his brief break.

The store is quiet and Leonard is just finishing up his only order when he catches Jim's eye and waves the three of them over. He signs a hello to Jim and turns to his friends, saying, "Nyota, Spock, good to see you again. What can I get started for you?" He signs the question as he speaks. 

Jim asks for his favorite and Leonard smiles and nods before looking back at the couple. "Nothing for us, Leonard," Nyota says as she looks between Jim and Leonard, her face lit up with a wide smile. "We're just on our way home, actually," she says, glancing over at Spock, "and wanted to stop by and say hi. Jim says you're signing really well and I can see that's true." She's signing and talking at the same time and Jim watches her hands and nods his head in agreement.

Leonard gestures for them to wait a moment as he gets Jim's coffee started. Once it's brewing, he looks back at the three in front of him. "Thank you, Nyota, for all your help. I really do appreciate all the time you spent working with me on this." He's trying to sign and speak at the same time, but it's difficult since Sign has very different grammar from spoken English and he's still focusing most of his attention on just remembering the right signs in the right order. "Did that even make any sense in Sign?"

Nyota laughs and Leonard notices the way Spock's normally stoic expression softens as he looks at her. "It made perfect sense, Leonard. Don't be so hard on yourself. It's just like any language; it takes time and practice to get comfortable with it." He nods his understanding as he finishes Jim's coffee and hands it over to him. Jim gives his customary toast and takes a sip before giving Leonard a thumbs up. Nyota watches the exchange with a smile.

"Well, thank you again for your patience. I hope you don't mind if I ask for your help again," Leonard says as he notices a small group of people enter and figures it's a good idea to take a few orders before going on break. Maybe he'll get more one-on-one time with Jim. "I'm sorry, but I should probably help these folks."

"Not at all, Leonard," she replies as the three of them step aside. "As I said, we should be going anyway. Email me any time and you really are doing very well. Have a good night."

"You too, Nyota, Spock." He turns his attention to Jim.

[[Five minutes?]]

Jim agrees and the three of them walk over near the door while Leonard takes a couple of orders. As he works on them, he watches Jim and his friends talk for a few minutes before Nyota gives Jim a big hug and Spock shakes his hand. With one more wave from Nyota and nod of the head from Spock, the two leave. Jim catches his eye and gestures to the pair of armchairs by the corner window. Leonard signs his agreement and hands over the customers' coffees before letting Janice's know he's going on break.

After getting his tablet out of his locker, he refills his glass with ice water and joins Jim, sitting in the armchair directly across from him. Jim gives the glass of water a skeptical look and Leonard responds with an ironic grin.

[[I get tired of coffee.]]

Jim laughs as Leonard powers up the tablet and types out a question about how Jim met Nyota and Spock. Jim explains that he first met her at a club in the Mission where he noticed her signing with a friend of hers and he went up and introduced himself. He was so drunk that she could hardly understand him and thought he was hitting on her, and doing a piss poor job of it. Three days later he started his contract job at UCSF only to find out she'd been assigned to act as his interpreter for the first two weeks as he got used to everything and learned to find his way around.

Leonard laughs as he reads Jim's tale of how his and Nyota's relationship quickly went from coldly professional to an uneasy truce to grudging respect to close friendship. When Leonard asks about Spock, Jim explains that Spock and Nyota have been together since her first year of undergrad when he was a student instructor.

Like Leonard, at first Jim thought he was cold and standoffish, but soon came to realize that underneath that seemingly emotionless exterior is a man with a wickedly dry sense of humor, great passion for his chosen field and deep love for his girlfriend.

That reminds Leonard of when they'd first met and Spock had mentioned how he and Nyota were working on a project to create a replacement for the cochlear implant that gives some deaf people limited ability to hear. He asks Jim if he's part of their study or if it's something he's interested in trying.

Jim frowns as he reads the question and his fingers hover over the tablet for several moments, as if he's hesitant to reply. Leonard puts his hand over the tablet to get Jim's attention and signs an apology since the question has obviously upset him. Jim signs that it's all right and finally types a response.

**Sorry. The implant is a bit of a sore subject with me since they tried the surgery when I was four but I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and they never did the procedure. My mother kept pushing the doctor to try again and he was willing, but every time she mentioned it, I'd get hysterical. She had a hard time accepting that I was deaf and so she did everything she could to make me like everybody else. She didn't start using Sign with me until I was eight and that was only because I insisted. She wanted me to be able to communicate like normal people, so Sign was forbidden and I just learned to lip-read and speak. That's why I type and text like a hearing person, because I learned spoken grammar before ASL grammar. And that's also why I try not to laugh or make noise. Of course I never heard myself when I'd speak, but I could see the looks on the other kids' faces and knew I sounded like a freak. It's stupid, but I'm still really self-conscious about it.**

**I don't want to make it sound like my mother's a bad person, because she isn't at all. She just had a hard time with me and my brother after my father died and blamed herself for my being deaf. She knew life would be hard for me and thought speaking and lip-reading would make it easier. Things weren't great between us when I was a kid, but she's worked really hard the last ten years or so and now we have a great relationship.**

**If the implant could actually make me a hearing person and allow me to get a commercial pilot's license, I'd be the first in line. But it doesn't. And even though I'm sure it would make communication easier for me, I'm happy enough with who I am now not to feel the need to change it.**

**I hope this isn't making you uncomfortable, because it's a valid question and it makes sense for you to wonder. I'm just touchy about it since it reminds me of all the years Mom spent trying to fix me.**

Leonard's heart breaks as he reads Jim's story. He can't imagine how hard it must have been for a young boy to deal with the problems of being deaf in a hearing world. Then to have the added pressure of his only parent implying that he somehow needs to be "fixed"...

Looking up, Leonard sees Jim's sadness in the slump his shoulders and his rueful expression. Without thinking, he sets the tablet down.

[[You're not broken, Jim.]]

Jim's breath catches and his eyes go wide as he stares at Leonard for a moment before sitting up straighter and giving him a warm smile.

[[Thanks, Bones.]]

Looking back at his tablet, Leonard notices that his break has been over for several minutes already. There aren't any customers in line and only a couple at the counter waiting for their orders, so he asks Jim to wait and goes over to Janice, who's sitting beside the cash register doing paperwork.

"Hey, Janice, can I ask another favor?" She looks up at him for a moment and then over to where Jim is sitting.

With a smirk, she says, "Fifty bucks."

It takes him a minute to realize what she's talking about, but he's not going to let her off the hook that easily. "Twenty-five." She looks like she's about to argue but he cuts her off. "You made money betting on my personal life and I deserve a cut."

"Fine," she says with an exaggerated sigh, "what do you need?"

"Another fifteen minutes." Christine has already left for the day, but with no game tonight most of the people in the area are workers more interested in getting home than getting another cup of coffee.

Janice glances over at the two customers in front of Geoff's station and the one in line. "Fine, but you owe me one." She goes over to Leonard's station to help the customer who’s waiting.

When he gets back, Jim stands up and hands the tablet over.

**Sorry, I lost track of time. Hope I didn't get you in trouble – again! I should get going since I still have tons to do before the shuttle arrives.**

Leonard signs that everything's all right, telling Jim he has more time and offering to walk with him to the bus stop. Jim accepts with a smile and Leonard stashes his tablet under Geoff's station with a quick thank-you. That done, Jim signs a goodnight to Geoff and Janice before gesturing for Leonard to precede him out the door. 

The usual evening fog has begun to roll in and Jim rubs his hands together as they wait at the crosswalk. Leonard had always been shy about public displays of affection, even when he and Joce were together. And despite five years in very gay-friendly San Francisco, he still feels a twinge of nervousness whenever he's kissed or even just held hands with another man in public. Before he can second guess himself, he reaches out and takes Jim's hands in his, rubbing them for warmth. Jim just stares at their hands for a moment, his cheeks flushed. Suddenly, the people around them start moving and both men realize the light has changed. Leonard keeps hold of Jim's right hand in his left as they cross the street and walk another block to the bus stop.

The 47 is due in less than ten minutes and the shelter is somewhat crowded, but Jim tugs Leonard's hand and leads him to the delivery entrance for a neighboring store. The service door is down, but there's still enough space to lend them a little bit of privacy and shelter them from the gusting wind. Huddled in the doorway, Jim winds his arms around Leonard's waist and hugs him tight. Leonard tries to let go of his worry about what other people might think and just hugs Jim back, nuzzling his neck and causing a shiver that he hopes has nothing to do with the cold.

He lifts his head and leans in to give Jim a brief, chaste kiss and feels more than hears his hum of pleasure. Huddled together, they trade slow, sweet kisses until the noise of the bus breaks through Leonard's foggy brain and he pulls away, gesturing towards the bus that's just pulled up and is disgorging its load of passengers.

Jim frowns.

[[I want to stay here.]]

Leonard knows that Jim's thrilled about the wedding this weekend and wouldn't miss it for anything, but his statement warms Leonard from head to toe as he gives Jim another kiss.

[[It's just four days and you'll have a great time.]]

Jim nods and takes Leonard's hand again as they walk to the door of the bus. Leonard asks Jim to text him tonight and Jim agrees, squeezing his hand and giving him one last kiss before letting go and boarding the bus. Jim finds a spot to stand near the front, taking hold of the overhead bar with one hand and giving Leonard a wave with the other. Leonard waves back as the bus starts to move, only to stop after only a few feet when the light changes. Jim looks like he's giggling but he keeps on waving and, laughing, Leonard does the same until the light turns green and the bus finally turns the corner and is soon out of sight.

It only takes Leonard a few minutes to get back to the store but the wind has picked up as the sun descended, so he's happy to be inside where it's warm. There are a few people scattered around the seating area, but for now there are no customers waiting. He calls out a quick thank-you to Janice and Geoff as he retrieves his tablet and heads to the back to put it away and clean up before returning to his station.

His coworkers are waiting for him, of course, leaning against the counter and wearing matching smirks. "Did you at least get a goodnight kiss?" Geoff asks as Leonard wipes down the counter and looks around in vain for a customer to distract him. Barring that, he searches his work area for something to clean, but Janice has left it neat as a pin.

Exasperated, he turns around and scowls at the two of them. "Seriously, guys, you need to cut it out. This is a coffee house not a casino." 

"Oh, please, the way the two of you were mooning over each other?" Geoff scoffs, "That would've been a sucker's bet." He walks back to his station to help a couple who've just entered the shop.

"Yeah," Janice pats him on the arm as she begins making her way back to the cash register, "we were just asking out of prurient interest."

Leonard gapes at her as she walks away, wondering what he did to deserve "friends" like these.

\---

The last two hours of his shift crawl by. Geoff left not long after Leonard returned from his break, and Janice seems constitutionally incapable of talking about a subject that isn't Jim.

_And here I thought I was the one with an unhealthy obsession with the man._

It's just after eight when he makes his escape, running up to the bus stop just in time to see the 10 pull away. Cursing, he checks the electronic sign on the side of the shelter and sees he's got another twenty minutes before the next one. 

With a sigh, he sits down and pulls out his phone to see that he’s gotten a text from Jim.

**Home! Laundry and packing and cleaning, oh my!**

Leonard chuckles and types a quick reply. An equally-quick response from Jim begins an exchange that they keep up for the three hours until Jim’s plane leaves, pausing only to allow Jim to finish packing his now-clean clothes, catch his shuttle and make his way through airport check-in and security.

At first, Leonard asks Jim to text when he lands in Chicago, but Jim refuses since it will be three in the morning in San Francisco. Similarly, Jim doesn’t want to bother Leonard when he arrives in Cedar Rapids since it will be early enough that Leonard will still be sleeping.

Eventually they reach a compromise and Jim agrees to send an email when he’s safely landed after both flights. Leonard still feels his stomach twist with a fear he knows to be completely unreasonable, but he always gets this way when someone he cares about flies. And he’s already come to care for Jim a great deal.

The fact that Jim’s become so important to him so quickly should bother Leonard, and he does worry that they’re going too fast. But he approached every one of his few previous relationships with caution and look where it’s gotten him. Divorced before he was even old enough to drink and a couple of relationships that lasted less than a year interspersed with the occasional anonymous hookup when he couldn’t stand the touch of his own hand anymore.

He’s tried the slow-and-steady approach to romance without success and, as clichéd as it sounds, he’s never felt about anyone the way he feels about Jim.

One of the things Daddy taught him was that the difference between a good doctor and a great one wasn’t education or even experience. No, there were two things that separated the medical wheat from the chaff. One was the ability to really listen to a patient, because nobody knew a patient's body better than they did. The other was instinct, the ability to trust one’s gut.

Leonard’s instinctive reaction to the notion of he and Joce getting married was that it was a terrible idea. His gut told him that Marco's rudeness and self-centeredness had nothing to do with cultural differences or a difficult childhood and everything to do with the simple fact that Marco was a raging narcissist.

Right now, his gut is telling him that Jim is good man with a keen intellect, quick wit, kind heart and bright soul. His instinct screams that he and Jim have the potential to be something really special, and he’s trying his damnedest to let go of his fear and trust his intuition. He thinks he’s been doing a pretty good job of it so far, but his other fear still rears its ugly head when he thinks of Jim in one of those tiny “Buddy Holly” airplanes he loathes.

It’s eleven-thirty and the plane’s on time, so after one more goodnight from Jim and a wish for safe travels from Leonard in return, he sets his phone down and finally takes his post-work shower. He tries to think calm, safe-flight thoughts as he reheats some dinner and finally takes it downstairs to eat in his den-slash-office. Booting up his laptop, he finds a flight tracking site and is relieved to see that United flight #1606 has reached its cruising altitude and is due to arrive in Chicago ten minutes early.

Shaking his head at himself, Leonard finishes his dinner while catching up on some emails and finalizing plans to meet for Saturday brunch with some friends from USF. After almost faceplanting into his textbook a few hours later, Leonard admits defeat and heads to bed.

He wants to stay up and make sure Jim’s at least landed in Chicago safely, but his alarm is set to go off in less than seven hours. After he brushes his teeth and gets ready for bed, he checks to see that Jim’s flight is over Kansas and still due in early. With a sigh, he shuts down the laptop and goes to bed, soothing his worries with thoughts of Jim, safe and soundly sleeping on the plane taking him home to his family.


	11. Day Eleven: Thursday

Leonard's sleep had been somewhat restless, so it takes several minutes for the quiet murmur of the radio to rouse him and another few for him to remember that Jim should be in Iowa by now. Throwing the covers off, he heads straight for his laptop and dressed quickly as he waits for it to boot up, trying to keep his nervousness at bay. Jim is _fine_ , dammit.

_In more ways than one..._

Opening Thunderbird, he watches as an email from jtkirk@comcast.net pops up. And another. And another. And another. With a smile, Leonard clicks the first message, sent at three-eighteen in the morning San Francisco time.

**Bones!**  
 **Just landed and we’re taxiing to the gate as I type. Flight was easy and I was able to snag three seats together and slept most of the way except for some turbulence over CO. Got to watch a thunderstorm in the distance, though, and that was awesome.**

“You’re insane, kid." Leonard shudders.

**I’ve got some time before my next flight, so I’ll email you again once I’m off the plane and gotten some food.**

**Hope you’re not reading this until well after the sun’s up,**  
 **Jim**

Checking the time, Leonard realizes he should be leaving for work in an hour, so he takes the laptop upstairs so he can finish reading while he eats breakfast.

**Bones!**  
 **Have you ever been in an airport before dawn? There aren’t many people here, most of the stores are closed and half the lights are off. It’s actually rather creepy. I keep waiting to see the zombie hordes dragging themselves up the tarmac towards the terminal buildings.**

His laugh is so unexpected, that Leonard briefly aspirates on milk and spends a few moments coughing before he can catch his breath.

**It took some searching, but I was able to find a Starbucks that was open.**

**I can see your frown from here, you know. You coffee snob, you.**

"I'm not frowning," Leonard mutters, even as he feels his brow furrow.

**And it’s not like there are many options at oh-dark-thirty, even in O’Hare. So while it’s not nearly as good as YOUR coffee, it will at least keep me going through the rest of the morning. And they had crullers, which are rare and exotic treats in SF.**

**I can buy creme brulee from a street cart on the sidewalk, for god’s sake, but ask for a cruller and people have no idea what you're talking about.**

**Though I should probably lay off until after the wedding. Sam has already informed me we’re going to the tailor in Cedar Rapids to get our tuxes fitted as soon as the other two guys arrive. We already sent in our measurements, but this is the fine-tuning, I guess. I’ve never worn a tux before - dropped out of high school, so no prom, and just wore a suit to Mom and Chris’s wedding. I hope it looks all right.**

Imagining Jim in a tuxedo, Leonard thinks he’ll look a damn sight better than “all right.”

 **Got a final confirmation email from the pool hall last night, so we’re all set for tonight’s party.**

***crosses fingers***

**Rehearsal tomorrow and then the dinner. Wedding Saturday. It’s silly since all I have to do is stand there and hand over the ring, but I’m still nervous. This is Sam and Aurelan’s big day and I don’t want to screw it up by missing a signal or dropping the ring or doing something stupid.**

Leonard scowls and his heart clenches in sympathy at Jim’s worry and self-doubt, wishing he was there to reassure him. 

**Anyway, I’ll just be glad when the ceremony is over and we can just eat and drink and dance. Have I told you I’m a great dancer? I’m not, actually, but in a crowded club, who cares? *g***

Leonard realizes that, just like with feeling the chanting of the crowd at the ballpark, Jim would easily feel the thumping bass at a club. And doesn’t the idea of Jim, lithe and fit, gyrating on the dance floor make for a pretty picture?

**Sunday will be the best day since it’ll just be family and close friends at Mom and Chris’s place. The newlyweds aren’t leaving for their honeymoon until Monday. They won’t tell us where they’re going, though, because Sam and I may or may not have crashed Mom and Chris’s honeymoon at his family’s home in Mojave and they may or may not have vowed revenge. *innocent***

**Looks like they’re ready to board, so I’ll wrap this up. Again, hope you’re reading this many hours after it’s sent and I’ll email you again when we land.**

**Talk to you soon!**  
 **Jim**

Checking the clock, Leonard realizes he’s got to leave soon, so he bolts down his cereal and heads downstairs. He brushes his teeth as he reads Jim’s email sent around five in the morning, Leonard’s time.

**Bones!**  
 **Hello from Cedar Rapids, Excitement Capital of the World! *g***

**We’ve just landed and the flight was great. We never got above the clouds, so I got to watch the sun rise over the landscape as we flew past. It was beautiful.**

**Sam’s already waiting for me and we’re about to disembark, so I’ll email you again when I can.**

**Have a great day!**  
 **Jim**

Once he’s ready to go, he pulls up Jim’s most recent email, sent about two hours earlier, and sees that it’s a picture of a plate of food. One half taken up with an enormous pile of french fries and the other a large mass of scrambled eggs that look to have at least a dozen different things mixed into them. He spots chunks of ham, mushrooms, spinach and jalapenos and it looks like the whole thing has been covered in cheese.

Te whole mass of starch and fat is liberally doused with hot sauce. He can't stop his grin even as he rolls his eyes.

_Of course._

Along with the picture, Jim’s added a single line.

**Can’t get a good shipwreck in SF, either. *g***

There are no new messages, so Leonard shuts down his laptop and pulls out his cell phone.

**I thought you were watching what you ate so you could fit into your tux? ;)**  
 **Thanks for humoring me with the updates, I really appreciate them.**  
 **Don’t worry, you’ll do great.**  
 **Have a wonderful time.**  
 **And I expect pics of you in your tux. LOTS of them.**  
 **Off to work!**

With that, he hurries out the door to catch the bus.

\---

Work that morning is busy but otherwise unremarkable. He finds himself in a good mood, imagining Jim having fun with his family, soon-to-be in-laws and friends. During slower moments, he and Janice discuss the coming week since he'll be covering for her while she's on vacation, meaning he'll have all the fun of being the manager without the benefit of better pay.

When he's finally able to check his phone during his break, there are three texts from Jim, two of which have attachments. He opens the earlier message with an attachment first. 

**I'm sending this under duress.**

Curious, Leonard scrolls down and his breath catches as he sees an image of Jim in a pale gray suit jacket over a white dress shirt and matching gray slacks. He's scowling at whoever's taking the picture, but there's no heat to it. He's got on a light blue vest but no tie, which Leonard assumes isn't necessary for the fitting. There are a few chalk marks visible on the sleeves and what looks like pins around the waist, and if the tailor is any good, the jacket will fit him like a glove when it's done. Even incomplete, the jacket shows off Jim's broad shoulders, narrow waist and slim hips. 

After staring for a few more moments, he moves on to the most recent message.

**hi leonard. hope you don't mind but i threatened jim i'd send this to you and have to follow thru or he'll stop taking my threats seriously. ;) nice to meet ya. sam**

A bark of surprised laughter escapes him as he reads and wonders just what Jim's been saying about him. When he sees the attached image, he begins to laugh in earnest.

The angle of this picture is the same as the first one, but Jim is obviously unaware it's being taken. He's still got the jacket on, but now he's standing in profile, his hands up as if he's signing with someone just outside of the shot. From this direction, Leonard can see how the jacket hugs the gentle slope of Jim's spine from the base of his neck to the small of his back, flaring out over the swell of his truly excellent ass. 

Leonard remembers the feel of that back, how he'd mapped those strong, solid muscles during their too-brief liaison. His hands itch to retrace the path they took yesterday and just keep going until he's explored every inch of Jim's body. He's got a build that's just made to wear a suit, but Leonard would rather find out what's underneath it.

Finally shaking himself out of his lust-induced stupor, he finally reads the text Jim had sent a couple of hours before the pictures.

**In my defense, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner and peanuts on the plane, so that was my first real meal since lunch.**  
 **Best lunch I ever had, though. *g***  
 **I enjoyed keeping you updated, actually.**  
 **It's really sweet of you to worry, though I feel bad for making you worry in the first place.**  
 **We're having a great day and it's just getting started.**  
 **It's just us guys so far: me, Sam, Chris, Aurelan's dad Mo and brother Kim, who are really nice.**  
 **Thanks for the support, too. I swear I'm more nervous than Sam is. *g***  
 **Was your best man more nervous than you were when you got married?**  
 **If that's a sore subject, please forget I asked.**  
 **We're heading back to the airport to pick up the other two groomsmen then off to the tailor.**  
 **Then lunch with the ladies who are at the salon getting all polished, plucked and waxed. Ouch.**  
 **Have a great day!**

He's grinning as he finishes reading Jim's message, but it's dimmed as he considers Jim's question about his ill-fated marriage.

**Glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed our lunch. :D**  
 **You certainly couldn't tell you had a million-calorie breakfast from the picture you sent.**  
 **Looking good. *winks***  
 **My phobia is certainly not your fault, so please don't feel bad about it.**  
 **I'm glad you're having a good time and don't have to get polished, plucked or waxed. ;)**  
 **I didn't have a best man to be nervous for me since we did a quickie city hall wedding and asked a couple of strangers to be witnesses.**  
 **How romantic. ;)**  
 **I'll email you about it tonight since it's really not a sore subject anymore, just lengthy. :)**  
 **Have fun with the whole gang today and at the party tonight!**

He sends the text and, smirking, quickly composes another one.

**PS: Check your sent messages. ;D**

Chuckling to himself, he puts his phone away and heads back to work.

\---

He's waiting to order lunch when he finally gets a chance to check his messages and sees that Jim has sent another two texts. The first tells Leonard that Jim had followed his advice.

**AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!**  
 **Would you still go out with me if I killed my brother on the eve of his wedding?**  
 **No jury in the world would convict.**

Laughing, he opens Jim's more recent message.

**Sam still lives, but I can't guarantee how long that'll be the case.**  
 **I'd say I can't believe he did that, but it's totally something he would do.**  
 **Is it just me or do those pants make my butt look huge?**  
 **Anyway, after Sam and I had a talk, lunch was a blast.**  
 **Aurelan's great and she's too good for Sam, but I guess good taste in men isn't one of her many  
** sterling qualities. *g*  
 **We're finally checked in at the hotel and I'm going to take a nap since it's been a long day already  
** and promises to be a long night.  
 **If we do it right, that is.**  
 **Quickie city hall marriages are cheap, at least.**  
 **Please don't feel like you have to tell me the tale if you don't want to, though, OK?**  
 **This text is becoming email length, so I'm going to sign off.**  
 **Hope you have a good lunch break – but not as good as yesterday's. *bg***

Leonard decides it's best to get the story out of the way, so When he gets back to work he settles in at one of the outdoor tables with his tablet and types out an email to Jim.

It's not hard for him to explain how he and Jocelyn Darnell began dating in high school. He found her _almost_ as attractive as Steve Miles, the right fielder for the school's baseball team. She found his appreciation for her intellect and personality rather than just her blond-haired, blue-eyed good looks as attractive as his quick wit and shy smile.

They both headed to the University of Mississippi after graduation and soon she decided having a baby of her own would finally get her well-meaning but overprotective parents from treating her like a child. He decided getting married would finally silence the knowing stares and whispers of "queer" that seemed to follow him everywhere.

Unfortunately, neither of them would get what they wanted.

Six months in, Joce was diagnosed with lesions that were the precursor to ovarian cancer meaning her odds of developing the disease were frighteningly high. She decided to have the surgery that would greatly reduce her odds of cancer even though it meant she would never be able to have a child. Leonard stayed with her throughout the whole ordeal and they finally agreed it was time for him to stop pretending and for her to stand on her own two feet. By the time her doctors had declared her fully healed, she was no longer Mrs. McCoy and Leonard had moved back home to help care for his ailing father.

Much to her parents' dismay, Joce moved all the way to Massachusetts to finish her pre-law studies. It was at Amherst that she met an art history major named Clay Tredwell and finally met a man who, as she told Leonard "treats me as well as you did." They got engaged the day she passed the Bar and the wedding is only a few months away. He explains that Joce has already insisted he attend, and Leonard has no intention of letting her down.

He's about to send the email when he pauses and adds another line.

**PS: Want to go to Georgia in September? :D**

Before he can talk himself out of it, he sends the email and quickly cleans up so he can get back to work.

\---

While the afternoon is busy, business starts to taper off as evening approaches. He's had no new messages from Jim, so around six o'clock, he sends a check-in text.

**Hope you were able to get some rest before tonight's festivities. :)**  
 **Are your parties in Riverside or Cedar Rapids? Where's the wedding?**  
 **If it's OK with you, I'd rather you not kill Sam since dating someone in jail probably isn't easy.**  
 **And I can think of a lot of words to describe your butt in those pants, but "huge" isn't one of them. ;)**  
 **Have a great time tonight!**

The rest of the night drags since the Giants are on the road for the next week or so and the evening foot traffic around the area is sparse. Christine's shift ends at seven o'clock, but instead of taking off immediately as she'd usually do, she hangs around Geoff's station while the two chat in between customers. She and Geoff have been spending even more time together than usual, and he wonders if has anything to do with Roger the Asshole. When Geoff leaves at seven-thirty, Christine leaves with him.

Once the pair is out the door, Leonard turns to Janice and raises his eyebrow, unable to ask the question on the tip of his tongue since he has a customer at his station. Janice just shrugs, looking as confused as has he feels. While he and Janice agree their friends would make a perfect couple, they also know they're both in relationships and neither is the type to cheat. 

It seems like it takes forever to finish his current order since he's so antsy to discuss this recent turn of events. Finally, the customer has her coffee and Janice practically runs over to his station. They spend the next half-hour gossiping about what may or may not be developing between their friends. As far as they know, Christine is still dating Roger the Asshole who's been away at MIT for the last two years. And Geoff's high-maintenance girlfriend Sarah was still in the picture as of a week ago when she visited the shop.

They're so busy chatting that they almost miss the fact that it's already eight o'clock. It's not long before their closing tasks are done and they're out the door in short order, exchanging goodnights and promises to continue the conversation tomorrow.

While he waits for the bus, Leonard reads Jim's latest texts. The most recent one has a video attached, and as he's waiting for it to load, his bus arrives. Once he's seated, the video is ready to play; it's paused on the image of six men standing in front of a pool table. He examines the men, noting that Jim is absent and presumably taking the video. Leonard is pretty sure which one is Sam because of his familiar pointed chin and blond hair. He guesses the two older men are Jim's stepfather and Aurelan's father; the other three must be her brother and the other two groomsmen.

Playing the video, he watches as all six of the men – in somewhat tipsy unison – give a short salute before crossing their arms over their chests in a sign Leonard's become very familiar with.

[[Hello, Bones.]]

Leonard replays it, noting the relaxed, happy smiles on all the men's faces and feels his chest warm at the evidence of how much he's on Jim's mind despite the fact that he's surrounded by friends and family all busily celebrating and preparing for the big day.

He moves on to Jim's earlier message.

**I was more tired than I thought and slept well.**  
 **Sam's been spared since Mom's had the house repainted and re-landscaped just for this and I can't do it to her.**  
 **Everything's in Cedar Rapids except the wedding and reception, which are at the house.**  
 **The grounds are five acres and then there are hundreds of acres of corn fields around that.**  
 **Riverside is tiny. This wedding will temporarily push the population over 1000.**  
 **I kid you not.**  
 **Thanks for the email, I'm reading it now.**  
 **You don't have to tell me anything and I really appreciate you sharing the story.**  
 **Did I mention I drove a classic Corvette into a quarry when I was 13?**  
 **That's another story that's too long for text.**  
 **The van will be here soon to take the guys to the pool hall and the ladies to the strip club.**  
 **Yes, you read that right. *g***  
 **Have a good night!**

Leonard's jaw drops when he reads Jim's line about the Corvette and he's still shaking his head as he types his reply.

**Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you grew up in a small town!**  
 **Is this the social event of the year in Riverside? ;)**  
 **Please tell me you're joking about the car.**  
 **Also please tell me the club has male strippers or Sam and Aurelan need to talk. ;)**  
 **Good luck hitting the balls in the pockets tonight. :D**

He's home in time to watch the tail end of the Cubs game and catch up with Mama while he eats dinner. He shows her the picture of Jim in his tux as well as the video Jim sent, which then requires him to explain the story behind his new nickname. This then leads to a new round of motherly cooing and demands that she meet Jim soon.

A few hours later, he's getting ready for bed when he gets a text. It's almost midnight and Leonard figures the men probably shut down the pool hall.

**Why isit that I've a much better poll player drunk then sober?**  
 **Totaling kick Sam's ass thought so that's my revenge for sanding that picking to Yu**  
 **And he's SOS much druninthan me right now.**  
 **His handover is going to be epidemic!**  
 **I would love togoto the wedding with young.**  
 **I've Denver been to George or the south**  
 **We could make a roadteip out of it and go to disnrworld**  
 **I've awl ways wanted to go new Orleans to**  
 **I'm glad you askedme**  
 **Ilk even wear a tux science you like my ass in on**

Leonard laughs until his eyes start to water.

**Go drunk, Jim, you're home. ;p**  
 **Lots of water, aspirin or similar, vitamins B and C. Take them all and get some sleep.**  
 **I'm glad you all had fun. Thank everyone for the video.**  
 **If they even remember filming it. :D**  
 **I'm looking forward to September already.**  
 **Sleep well and text me when you regain consciousness. ;)**

After the message is sent, he finishes getting ready for bed, still chuckling, and goes to shut down his laptop. His hand stills over the power button and instead he sits down, opens Thunderbird and starts a new email.

**Hey Joce!**  
 **So, I may be bringing someone to the wedding after all...**


	12. Day Twelve: Friday

Fridays are usually for running errands since Leonard can go shopping without having to deal with weekend crowds. It's also the one day of the week he drives, cursing other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists (especially cyclists) and one-way streets the whole time. It's just after eleven by the time he gets home laden with supplies for the house and enough groceries to get him and Mama through the week.

He wonders how Jim and his hangover are doing this morning while he assembles the ingredients for burgundy beef and puts them in the slow cooker. His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a text alert and he's glad he spent the time to figure out how to assign a special ringtone to Jim's number so he doesn't have to look at the phone to know who it's from.

_Speak of the devil..._

Chuckling, he dries his hands and picks up the phone.

**Ow.**   
**Owowowowowowowow, etc.**   
**I'd say I'll never drink again but Aurelan is a winemaker and you know they're going to have the Good Stuff tonight and tomorrow.**   
**But I don't know if there's enough Advil in Iowa to help Sam this morning.**   
**Nina, the matron of honor, says the bride's hurting, too.**   
**Yes they were male strippers, btw. Much to bridesmaid Lorna's disappointment. *g***   
**Despite marrying Sam, Aurelan is a smart woman and there's nothing but recovery on the schedule until late this afternoon.**   
**Thanks for the painkiller and vitamin advice. I'm feeling better and we're all going to get some lunch and then go swimming.**   
**Any plans for your Friday off?**

Leonard spends a few happy moments imagining Jim by the pool wearing nothing but sunglasses and swim trunks. Jim doesn't strike him as the speedo type, and as much as he likes men's bodies, Leonard thinks the tiny suits aren't very flattering. Though Jim might be an exception.

While he's composing his reply he's interrupted by a call from Joce, so he saves the draft to answer. Before he can speak, she says, "Sorry, Leo, but I'm in the middle of a hearing and only have a few minutes. So, let's skip the pleasantries this time and you tell me all about Jim." He doesn't even bother to argue, just gives a little laugh and lays out the tale of how he and Jim met and their developing relationship.

"I've never heard you so excited about anybody before." He hears the happiness in her voice and can tell she's smiling. "You said the same thing to me when I first told you about Clay."

"That I did," he agrees. "But..." He sighs, worry and doubt making his stomach knot. "It's been less than two weeks and we haven't even been on a real date yet. This is all just happening so fast, and the intensity of what I'm already feeling for Jim scares me sometimes."

"That's when you know it's right, Leonard." The use of his full name means she's dead serious and it both terrifies and thrills him. They speak for only a few more minutes before she promises to call again this weekend and he promises to send her a picture of Jim. Her enthusiasm and excitement are so much like his mother's and friends' that when they finally finish their conversation, he can only sigh. "I'm surrounded by yentas," he mutters as he returns to replying to Jim's message.

**Yeah, alcohol is evil. Fun, tasty evil. ;)**  
 **Drink lots and lots of water today, especially if you're going to be outside in the sun.**  
 **You're wearing sunblock, right?**  
 **Preemptive Advil and vitamins would be a good idea before the parties tonight and tomorrow.**  
 **Nothing planned for today but cleaning and laundry.**  
 **Probably treat myself to a DVD and a glass of bourbon tonight. Woo!**  
 **Rest, relax and don't get sunburned! :)**

It only takes a few minutes for Jim to reply.

**I am hydrating like there's no tomorrow and promise to slather myself in sunscreen.**  
 **Wish you were here to do my back. *bats eyes***  
 **Lunch first. Slept through breakfast so I'm starving.**  
 **Rehearsal's at 4 and then dinner and probably an early night even though the wedding isn't until Sunday evening.**  
 **Good luck with the cleaning!**

Leonard's smile is on the lascivious side.

_Wish I could do more than your back, Jim_

The first version of his reply contains that line verbatim, but he quickly deletes it, reminding himself that he and Jim probably shouldn't start sexting when Jim's _with his family_.

**Just your back? ;)**  
 **After all, I bet your face isn't the only place you've got freckles. ;)**  
 **Wish I was there, too. Looks like you're having a great time.**  
 **Hope you continue to do so, and remember: it's actually OK to swim after eating. ;)**  
 **Talk to you later!**

Message sent, he finishes lunch before and heads downstairs to start on the next task on his to-do list.

\---

An hour later, Leonard's just finishing up some chores when his phone chimes.

**You need to warn me if you're going to send texts like that because I blushed so hard I made Mom suspicious and when I wouldn't explain, Sam tried to steal my phone!**  
 **Thankfully he's still moving too slow to be much of a threat.**  
 **In fact, he may still be a little bit drunk.**  
 **I'll let you find out about my freckles on your own. *g***  
 **We are having a wonderful time but I'm still stressing.**  
 **That's probably why Sam and Aurelan were the drunkest at each of their parties. *bg***  
 **It'll be better after the rehearsal tonight.**  
 **It's about to get pretty busy, so I may not be able to get back to you tonight.**  
 **If so, hope you got your chores done and enjoy your movie and bourbon and I'll talk to you tomorrow!**

He knows he should feel guilty for causing Jim such embarrassment in front of his family, but he's quickly becoming obsessed with the idea of searching out the freckles on Jim's skin and mapping them like a cartographer.

**I should've figured that with your fair skin you'd blush easily.**  
 **But if that last text got to you, you don't want to know what I wrote and deleted. ;)**  
 **Let's just say I'm very much looking forward to finding out about your freckles and leave it at that. :)**  
 **I know I said it before, but you'll do just great. Promise.**  
 **Don't worry about replying, just enjoy yourself and have fun with your family.**  
 **And RELAX! :) Have a great rehearsal and I'll talk to you whenever. :D**

Smiling, he gets back to cleaning, humming along to the stereo and imagining Jim dancing in his snug-fitting tuxedo.

\---

After dinner with Mama and another disappointing Cubs’ game, Leonard heads to his rooms to relax and read. It’s getting close to eleven when he hears Jim’s text alert sound.

Chuckling at the thought of another drunken, late-night text, he eagerly reaches for his phone.

**I hope I'm not waking you up or anything.**  
 **Can you chat?**

Loose and warm from a long bath and a couple fingers of Corner Creek, he doesn't hesitate in his response.

**I'm always up for you, darling. ;)**

Jim's reply is immediate, but its shortness and the lack of reaction to Leonard's come-on has him concerned.

**Skype OK?**

Leonard types a reply as he makes his way over to boot up his laptop.

**Sure, just give me a few minutes.**  
 **Everything all right?**

It seems like it takes forever for Windows to finally start, and he gets another response from Jim as he waits.

**Everything's fine. Just want to talk face to face.**

The term "fine" is one Leonard really hates sometimes. It reminds him of how his father would use it every time he fell or lost his grip on a glass. Right now he's definitely hating it. With a few clicks, he's connected and his worry ratchets up a notch as he sees Jim's face. The connection isn't great, but he can clearly see that Jim is upset and his eyes look red. Before Jim can say anything, Leonard begins signing.

[[What's wrong?]]

Jim's smile is tired but genuine.

[[Nothing's wrong. I promise. Things are great.]]

Leonard is not convinced.

[[You don't look great.]]

The image on the screen jerks and Leonard realizes Jim is laughing as he gives Leonard a smirk.

[[Wow, thanks, Bones.]]

His joking reply combined with his laughter eases some of the tension tightening Leonard's shoulders, but it's still obvious Jim's got something he needs to get off his chest.

[[What is going on, Jim?]]

He watches as Jim fidgets on the other end of the connection, licking and biting his lips, eyes darting back and forth, hands fluttering up and then falling down out of frame as if Jim can't figure out how to say what's on his mind. Finally he swallows, looks back at Leonard and raises his hands.

[[They signed, Bones.]]

Leonard can hear Jim's shuddery sigh even through the laptop's tiny speakers.

[[Everyone signed.]]

He's pretty sure what Jim means and he hopes he's right.

[[The people in the wedding?]]

Jim signs a yes and then begins a rapid-fire series of gestures Leonard can't hope to follow. He signs a request for Jim to slow down, and then opens the chat window.

**I'm sorry, but this will be easier for me.**  
 **Please tell me what happened.**

He sees Jim's focus move to the corner of the screen as he types his reply.

**Sorry, I'm still stunned about the whole thing.**  
 **Everyone in the wedding party signed.**  
 **Sam, Mom and Chris did, that's not such a surprise.**  
 **But Aurelan and her parents and the officiant and even Aurelan's friend Willa who wrote a poem for the ceremony.**  
 **They all signed.**

What he reads warms his heart as much as Jim's obvious surprise breaks it. He switches to Sign and tries to keep the mood upbeat.

[[That's great, Jim!]]

Jim just shakes his head.

[[But it's their wedding, not mine. They didn't have to do this.]]

Since he can't figure out how to say what he thinks Jim needs to hear, or see as the case may be, he goes back to typing.

**They're your family.**  
 **They didn't have to, but they want to because they love you.**

Jim still shakes his head as he reads, seemingly unable to accept what his family has done for him.

**It's the most important day of their lives and I feel like I'm ruining it.**  
 **I just imagine them watching the wedding video and seeing everybody signing just for me.**  
 **There are no other Deaf attending, so they've done all this because of ME.**  
 **I feel bad that they've gone to all this work to accommodate me.**

Jim angrily rubs his eyes and gives Leonard an apologetic smile.

**Sorry, I usually don't get weepy when I drink.**

Frustration and sympathy churn in Leonard's gut and he wants to shake Jim almost as much as he wants to hold him.

**Damn it, Jim, you're not ruining anything!**  
 **You're part of the family and an important part of the wedding.**  
 **They're not accommodating you.**  
 **They're *including* you.**  
 **Is that really such a bad thing?**

For several moments Jim just stares at chat window and Leonard hopes maybe his words are starting to sink in. When Jim looks back at the camera, he appears a little more relaxed and the corner of his mouth is turned up in a small smile.

[[No, it's a wonderful thing. But...]]

Jim pauses and appears to be considering what to say next and finally starts typing again.

**Sorry, I know your Sign is good, but this is probably better for now.**  
 **I guess I'm not used to being "included" in things outside my immediate family.**  
 **But then you started signing, and then the people at the shop.**  
 **Now this, which is amazing. Nicest thing anybody's ever done for me.**  
 **So many great things have happened to me lately that maybe I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.**

Leonard knows the feeling that things are going almost too well; he's felt it a lot lately himself when he thinks about Jim and how close they've become in such a short period of time. He recalls Jim's off-hand mentions of a difficult childhood and rough adolescence; he doesn't need those psychology courses to make the connection.

**I know what you mean.**  
 **When life has been difficult, I think it's natural to worry when it starts to go really well.**  
 **But just because we haven't had it so good in the past doesn't mean we don't deserve good things now or in the future.**  
 **You deserve to be included, Jim.**

Again, Jim just stares at the chat window for several moments, absentmindedly licking his lips. Scrubbing his eyes, Jim focuses on the camera once more and smiles.

[[Thanks, Bones.]]

Breathing a sigh of relief, Leonard feels his shoulders ease down from where they'd been hitched up around his ears. Jim is going to be OK; though he'll probably still be pretty emotional about this for a while and Leonard wouldn't blame him. Feeling like they've cleared a hurdle, he tries to lighten the mood.

**Don't forget to bring some extra tissues tomorrow, just in case.**

With a little chuff of laughter, Jim smiles, looking more relaxed and happy than he has throughout their exchange. The sight of it allows Leonard to let go of the last of his worry and he smiles back. Jim straightens up and his mouth opens in a little O as if a thought had just occurred to him and he begins typing.

**Could you send me a picture of yourself?**  
 **Everyone keeps asking what you look like.**  
 **And I'd like to have a picture of you anyway.**

Leonard hopes the connection is poor enough that Jim can't see the blush he feels warming his cheeks. His hopes are dashed when he hears Jim give another chuckle as a new message appears in the chat window.

**You're SO adorable!**  
 **I'd take a screenshot now, but this resolution is crap.**  
 **It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a cellphone pic is fine.**  
 **Please?**

How is he supposed to say no to that? He's flattered by Jim's eagerness and as he watches as the grainy image on the screen give him an exaggerated puppy dog look, Leonard knows resistance is futile.

**Fine, I'll send you a picture.**  
 **But don't blame me if it sucks.**

Jim just shakes his head.

**Thank you!**  
 **Don't be silly, you couldn't take a bad picture if you tried.**

Whatever Jim is going to say next is cut off when he yawns hugely. Leonard's glad of the distraction as his face goes an even darker shade of red and he hopes Jim is too tired to notice. Again, he doesn't get his wish when Jim's smile grows wider even as he tries to smother another yawn. Leonard decides to take the opportunity to change the subject.

[[You should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.]]

Stretching his arms over his head, Jim nods his agreement. He looks much better than when they first connected, but Leonard still needs to double check for his peace of mind.

[[Feeling better now?]]

With a nod, Jim signs a yes.

[[Much better, thank you. Sorry for bothering you.]]

Leonard shrugs off the apology.

[[You didn't bother me. I am happy to help and glad you called me. Have a great time tomorrow. Text me if you need to, OK?]]

Jim nods again, his expression fond.

[[I will, promise. I'm fine now, thanks to you.]]

They smile at one another for a moment until they both yawn again almost simultaneously. Laughing, Jim starts typing.

**I think that that's a sign if ever there was one.**  
 **You're having brunch with your friends tomorrow, right?**

That reminds him that he has to be up a little bit earlier than his usual Saturday time.

**Yep. 2-for-1 bloody marys at Luna Park.**  
 **And food, too, I guess.**

Giving another quiet laugh, Jim grins.

**I prefer their bottomless mimosas myself.**  
 **A very smart friend told me you should drink lots of water, take some aspirin and vitamin B and C.**

After another few moments of grinning at one another and a second pair of synchronized yawns, they laugh and both begin signing at once. Jim gestures for Leonard to go ahead.

[[Sleep well and have fun tomorrow. You will do great. Thank you for calling and text any time.]]

Jim nods.

[[Thank you for being there for me. I'll send you wedding pictures if you send me a picture of you.]]

They both laugh as Leonard signs a promise and Jim nods his acceptance. Yawning, they exchange goodnights and finally disconnect the call.

After a quick shower, Leonard gets ready for bed and thinks about their conversation. He's still a little concerned, but mostly he feels honored that Jim thought to turn to him when he was feeling vulnerable. 

Slipping under the covers, he sends out good thoughts for the wedding tomorrow, for Jim in particular, and selfishly hopes Jim will dream of him.


	13. Day Thirteen: Saturday

Leonard's just arrived in the Mission when he gets a text from Jim. He's been up for a while but didn't want to risk waking Jim, figuring he could use some sleep after their emotional late-night chat. The wedding isn't until later in the day and everybody involved probably wants to rest up while they can.

**T minus 5 hours 17 minutes and counting!**  
 **Sam is finally more nervous than I am.**  
 **But he and Aurelan keep exchanging texts and he's the definition of "besotted."**  
 **Which is good, what with the impending marriage and all... *g***  
 **I'm doing great today. Nervous and excited and happy.**  
 **Thanks in large part to you. You were a big help.**

He smiles, touched that Jim thought to reach out to him.

**Great news!**  
 **I'm sure they'll get hitched without a hitch. ;)**  
 **Very happy to hear that you're having a great day and I'm sure it'll get even better.**  
 **I bet things are about to get very busy, but feel free to text any time, OK?**  
 **What's on the pre-wedding agenda?**

Enjoying the warm day and the sights and sounds of one of his favorite neighborhoods, Leonard's still a couple blocks away when he hears the text alert.

**Yeah, the rehearsal went just OK, so we're hoping that means the wedding will be perfect.**  
 **It's just us guys and our pre-wedding activities are about to begin.**  
 **Already had lunch and we're heading to the barber shop now.**  
 **We're all getting wet shaves with a straight razor.**  
 **aka, cutthroat shaves. *gulp* I'm honestly kind of nervous about that.**  
 **If we don't get Sweeney Todded, we'll go to a family friend's house in Riverside to get ready.**  
 **Aurelan and the ladies are getting ready at Mom and Chris's, of course.**  
 **When's your brunch?**

He can understand Jim's worry about the shave, having noted the pitting and scarring on his neck and chin from what must have been a horrible case of acne when he was younger. That combined with his deafness probably only added to Jim's sense of isolation and the thought dims Leonard's good mood a little but he makes sure not to let that bleed over into his reply.

**Sounds like a very civilized way to spend your afternoon. :)**  
 **I've never had a wet shave, but my father got one when we were in London on vacation.**  
 **He loved it.**  
 **And I don't think you need to worry unless the barber is upstairs from a meat pie shop. ;)**  
 **Brunch is at 11:00, so I'm on my way there now.**  
 **Lots of water and preemptive medications have been consumed. ;)**  
 **If I don't talk to you beforehand, best of luck to you and everyone.**  
 **I know it's going to be fantastic. :D**

It's not long before he reaches the restaurant. He's the first one there, but most of his friends probably chose to drive and are circling the area desperately looking for a parking spot. After checking in with the hostess, he heads back outside to read Jim's latest message.

**I've been called many things but "civilized" is not one of them.**  
 **They have beer here, so at least we'll be relaxed when we're offed. *g***  
 **The shop's on the first floor, so no meat pie place downstairs or nearby.**  
 **Though the BBQ joint a few doors down looks sketchy. *g***  
 **I should probably focus on family stuff now, but I'll talk to you post-wedding.**  
 **And don't forget: no pics of me until I get one of you.**  
 **Enjoy the bloody marys!**

Before he can type a reply, Leonard hears someone call his name and looks up to see Liz and Emony approaching, looking harried in the way only people who've spent far too long driving around the Mission can. Pocketing his phone, he opens his arms and gives them each a welcoming hug and congratulates them on even finding a place to park. When they separate, he sees his other friends making their way towards them and goes back to the hostess to let her know the rest of the party has arrived.

\---

Meeting up with this group is always fun and he knows they'll only have a few more opportunities for gatherings like this before they head off to their various medical schools and graduate programs. So he focuses on enjoying their time together, sharing their hopes and fears for the next phase of their education and stories about work, family and relationships. 

The hours pass quickly as they gossip and laugh while Nancy snaps pictures with her ever-present camera. When Leonard asks her to send him the ones she'd taken of him, she readily agrees and emails them directly from her camera. His friends' curiosity is piqued since he's notoriously camera shy. They're excited when he tells them about Jim, and when the group finally parts hours later, he reluctantly promises to let them know how his and Jim's Big Date turns out.

When he gets home and checks his email, Leonard is surprised to see just how many pictures Nancy had taken of him. Scanning the images is an uncomfortable exercise because, while he knows objectively he's not bad looking, his eyes always focus on his individual faults rather than his face as a whole.

So he tries to ignore his moles and the way, in the right light, his eyebrows sometimes look as if they're disintegrating as they near his nose and just how goofy he looks when he smiles. There are few he doesn't totally hate and he finally settles on one that Nancy took during one of their many stops on their post-meal walk. He's looking at someone – Emony, if he remembers correctly – and has a slight smile on his face and he thinks he actually looks pretty good for a change.

There haven't been any messages from Jim, which Leonard expects since the wedding should be going on right now. He knows Jim isn't so rude as to have his cell phone with him, but just to be on the safe side, he sends the picture to Jim's email. Remembering Jim's note he sent along with the picture from the tux fitting, Leonard ads one line.

**I'm sending this under duress. ;)**

Once the email is sent, he takes out his phone and calls up the pictures of Jim in his tux, imagining how he looks right now in the full tailored suit. After a few minutes of that very pleasant pastime, he settles on the couch with a textbook.

He makes it through most of the chapter before falling asleep.

\---

The sound of his text alert wakes him from his impromptu nap. It's from his mother telling him that she'll be out the rest of the evening and not to bother with dinner. He assumes she's spending the day with her beau, Ken, and experiences an odd mix of emotions at the idea of his mother dating. Daddy's been gone for six years now, and for his last two Mama was more nurse than wife to him as his health deteriorated. David McCoy even made then-20-year-old Leonard promise that he'd look out for his mother and make sure she found the right man to make her happy.

This is the first man she's seen for more than a couple dates and from what she says of him, he sounds like a good guy. Intellectually, Leonard knows his mother is still vibrant and relatively young at only 57 and she deserves to have someone to share her life with for the hopefully many decades she has left. Still, the son in him will always feel a little bit as if she's betraying his father, even though this is something Daddy wanted for her.

Scrubbing his face, he shakes off his maudlin thoughts and types a quick reply, wishing her a good evening and telling her he'd like to meet this "young man" of hers soon. Feeling satisfied he's done right by both his parents, he goes back to his reading, determined to stay awake this time.

\---

It's almost six o’clock when he gets a pair of texts.

**I'm going to have the most beautiful nieces and nephews EVER!**

Leonard agrees as he looks at the attached image. It's a close-up of the happy couple, apparently taken while they were posing for post-wedding photos. Aurelan and Sam are almost the same height and sport matching joyful smiles. In the full light of the setting sun, he can see that Sam's hair is lighter than Jim's but his eyes are the same startling blue. He wears a tuxedo several shades darker than Jim's and vest and bow tie in a blue so pale as to appear almost white.

It's the exact shade of Aurelan's dress and the contract between the ice blue of her simple strapless gown and the warm mahogany of her skin is stunning. With her high cheekbones, big brown eyes and full lips she's one of the most beautiful women he's ever seen. She wears a sash around her waist the same dark gray as Sam's tuxedo and her shortish hair has been twisted into a mass of curls that create a messy halo around her face. Instead of a veil or tiara, she has a single white rose in full bloom nestled in the hair over her right ear, matching the roses in her bouquet and the boutonniere in Sam's lapel.

The more recent text contains a picture of the bride and groom with their parents. He's seen Chris and Mo before in the picture Jim sent from the bachelor party, so Leonard focuses on the mothers of the bride and groom. He can easily see where Aurelan gets her looks; she has her mother's almond-shaped eyes as well as her hourglass figure.

Jim's mother gets much closer scrutiny. Her hair a lighter blonde than either of her sons, but whether that's due to nature or a hairdresser, he can't tell since it suits her coloring perfectly. He can see Jim in her – or her in Jim, he supposes – by the shape of her nose and point of her chin. Like everybody in the picture, her smile is relaxed and happy. Leonard is curious to learn more about her since Jim's mentions of her have been both positive and negative.

He examines the picture for a few more moments before typing a reply.

**Those kids have definitely won the genetic lottery. :)**  
 **Glad everything went well, but be honest: did you use those tissues? ;)**  
 **Thanks for the beautiful pics, but...**  
 **...a certain someone appears to be missing. :p**

After sending the text he heads upstairs to make himself some dinner; before he even reaches the kitchen, Jim replies.

**Quid pro quo, Clarice.**

Laughing, Leonard quickly types a response.

**Check your email, Dr. Lecter.**

Leonard's waiting for his dinner to finish reheating when Jim's text arrives.

**Very nice! Thanks for the pic!**  
 **Feel free to send more, btw.**  
 **I swear some people think I'm making you up. *g***  
 **Here's one from before the wedding.**  
 **Sharp-looking group, right?**

This picture shows Sam with Jim (without those horrible glasses, thankfully) and another groomsman on his right, Aurelan's brother and the fourth groomsman on his left. The attendants all wear the same dove gray tuxedos with sky blue vests and ties to offset Sam's darker suit and lighter vest and tie combo. Leonard's a med student not a tailor, but to him it looks like Jim's suit is fitted to him perfectly. The jacket is buttoned and highlights Jim's tiny waist and narrow hips as well as the width of his shoulders.

Leonard finds himself a little disappointed Jim is facing the camera and not in profile so that the dip of his lower back and swell of his buttocks are visible. While he won't admit it, he may have developed something of a fixation on that particular part of Jim's body. He lets himself indulge in the fantasy of fitting his hand in the small of Jim's back, feeling the heat of him radiating through layers of cotton and wool.

His mental wanderings are interrupted by another text. This one has no message and he opens it to see a shot of the bride and groom and all their attendants. The four bridesmaids wear simple and stylish sleeveless knee-length dresses with wide necks that cut across their collarbones. They're the same gray as the groomsmen's tuxedos with sky blue sashes to match the men's vests and ties.

He has to laugh when he sees what he assumes are the flower girl and ring bearer. The little boy and girl can't be more than four years old and are the only members of the wedding party who wear white. He assumes the little boy is one of Aurelan's relatives and the girl is part of the Kirk clan, but by the way they're holding hands and grinning at each other, it seems they're already family.

**Looks like you might have another wedding to plan in another 20 years or so. :)**  
 **Everybody looks great – and happy, more importantly.**  
 **I notice you didn't answer my question re: tissues.**  
 **Admit it, you bawled like a baby. :p**  
 **Who says I have more pics to send? ;)**

As eats his dinner, he looks at the pictures, smiling at the sight of everyone's obvious happiness. He's relieved that the wedding apparently went smoothly and Jim's worry was for nothing. Just as he finishes cleaning up, another text arrives.

**Aren't those kids adorable?**  
 **That's Kim's son Deavon and my cousin's daughter Kaya.**  
 **Their mothers are already planning the wedding. *g***  
 **As for the tissue question: I have no comment on the matter. *innocent***  
 **I'll email you more pictures later, but right now...**  
 **THE DANCE FLOOR IS OPEN!**

Chuckling, Leonard heads downstairs. By the time he's ready for bed, there have been no emails from Jim, but he does get a text around midnight.

**Party's still going strong.**  
 **Kirks tend to be night owls.**  
 **As do Pattisons, apparently.**  
 **And let me say having a winemaker as a SiL is amazing.**  
 **I'm usually a beer guy, but I think she could turn me pretty easily.**  
 **But not THAT way because a) SiL and b) not you. *g***

Leonard's breath catches.

**We have a standing invite to visit them in Spokane, btw.**  
 **I know it's in Seattle, but I've always wanted to go to that market where they throw the fish.**  
 **Talia wants to dance and I never disappoint a lady.**  
 **Well, there was that one time, but we don't talk about that. *g***  
 **Talk to you tomorrow. Or later today, as the case may be.**

He takes a moment to absorb everything Jim had said or suggested in his text, happiness and worry creating a knot in his stomach. After a few minutes, Leonard talks himself out a minor panic attack and focuses on the fact that Jim seems be falling for him as fast as he's falling for Jim. Taking a little more time to calm his racing heart, he tries to keep it light, just in case the wine Jim had mentioned has gone to his head a bit.

**I know nothing about disappointing ladies.**  
 **And if you ever meet Jocelyn, remember that she's a lying liar who lies. ;)**  
 **I don't know anything about wine, but am always happy to learn something new when it comes to alcohol. :D**  
 **But if she tries to turn you into anything but a wine fan, she's going to have me to answer to.**  
 **Glad to hear you're all still having a great time.**  
 **And feel free to share any video of you dancing.**  
 **Some things need to be seen to be believed, after all. ;)**  
 **Does your mother have cows?**  
 **If so, will you be partying until they come home?**  
 **I'm probably heading to bed soon, so if I don't respond again tonight, that's why.**  
 **Have a wonderful time dancing the night away! :D**

Envisioning Jim dancing his heart out, Leonard falls asleep with a smile on his face.


	14. Day Fourteen: Sunday

Leonard is sitting at the kitchen table looking through the pictures Jim sent earlier that day when the front door opens and his mother comes in wearing an outfit that looks more suited for a night out than a morning spent running errands. Her attire, combined with the fact that she usually never bothers to come downstairs before noon on Sundays, leads to an obvious conclusion.

Remembering the promise he made to himself to be supportive, he decides to go with humor even as his mind stutters at the implications. "I'm honestly not sure if I should ask if you had a good time or not." He sits back and watches as she makes her way into the kitchen for a glass of water, not bothering to reply. "Mama? Are you OK?" He starts to stand up, but is halted by her hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back into his chair. She sits down next to him, her hands folded on the table. She doesn't look upset or angry, just tired and maybe a little sad.

"Yes, honey, I'm fine." He scowls at her. She knows how he feels about that word. "Promise." Placing her hands over his, she gives them a squeeze. "And I did have a good time, but nothing happened." There are few things he wants to hear less than the details of his mother's evening with her beau, but she cuts him off before he can protest. "Honestly, I just had a cocktail too many, so I stayed in Ken's guest room."

While she appears calm, it's obvious something is bothering her. "Did you two have a fight?" She shakes her head. "Are you still going to be seeing him?" Another shake of a head, this time accompanied by a sad smile. "Then you _did_ have a fight."0

"No, honey, we really didn't fight." She sighs, eyes focused on her hands still clutching his. "It's just that...Ken said he couldn't go out with a woman who was still married."

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" He feels confused and angry at the thought of any man saying something like that to his widowed mother. "Besides, you're not-" She holds up her left hand and gives him a look. "Oh."

"Exactly," she says, attention focused once more on her hands. He watches her as she plays with the simple gold band on her left ring finger. It's shiny and smooth from three decades of continuous wear and Leonard suddenly realizes he doesn't even know if there's an engagement ring to go with it. All his life, he remembers his parents wearing those matching bands; no flashy diamonds or other embellishment to gussy them up. 

Daddy's ring is in a safe deposit box with a small collection of jewelry handed down through the family over the years. It's Leonard's to do with as he wishes, though his mother has not-so-subtly hinted he should give it to the man he eventually settles down with. Immediately he pictures Jim's eloquent hands, the glint of the gold band catching the light as he speaks. He's distracted from his musings as she sighs and tightens her grip on his hands.

"I don't think I'm ready to take it off, Leo." She looks lost and small, two descriptors he's rarely associated with his mother before. Scooting his chair closer, he wraps an arm around her, his other hand clutching hers.

Kissing her on the temple, he murmurs, "Then don't." He continues to rub his thumb over her hand, brushing against the ring as he does. "When you're ready, we'll get you a nice chain for it and you can still wear it that way."

"Thank you, honey," She leans her head against his shoulder. "I thought I was ready, you know?" she says, slowly twisting the ring around her finger. "After all, it's been six years and I don't think about David as often as I used to, so I just assumed..." She sighs again, shrugging. "But sometimes I miss your daddy so much it hurts and I wonder if it'll ever stop hurting."

Her voice is choked and Leonard feels his eyes begin to tear up. "I wish I could tell you what would happen and when, but I don't think there's a timeline for grief." He pulls away a little bit and catches her eye. "Besides, you're the parent here. Aren't you supposed to have all the answers?"

Apparently, he said just the right thing because she chuckles, though it sounds a bit watery. "Don't give me that, Leo. You figured out we didn't have all the answers when you were seven and declared that babies were neither found under cabbages nor delivered by storks."

They both grin at the memory. "Actually, I think I walked into the middle of your dinner party with Reverend Clark and declared that babies came out of mommies' vaginas." She laughs and he adds, "Gave Aunt Darlene the vapors, too." Mama's smiling happily now, as he'd hoped she would, and he feels the same warmth in his chest he's always experienced when he's been able to do something to make his mother smile.

_Lord, I am such a mama's boy..._

Her laughter subsides and she turns to him with a smile, her earlier weariness gone. "I'd lived in Georgia for fifteen years and never seen anybody suffer from the vapors. I thought they were a myth." She shakes her head, still chuckling, as she catches her breath and takes a sip of water. Giving his hand a squeeze, she says, "Thank you, honey."

"Of course, Mama." She looks lighter than when she'd arrived, though still pensive. He's hesitant to bring it up, but figures it's best to get everything out on the table. "I'm sorry you and Ken didn't work out."

"Me, too." Her tone is resigned, but not sad. "We agreed that I wasn't ready to be seriously dating anyone and he didn't want to feel like he was pressuring me."

Leonard never met Ken and now finds himself wishing he had. "He sounds like a nice man." She smiles, nodding. "You deserve a nice man, Mama."

"So do you, honey." She grins. "Jim seems like a nice man."

Instead of replying, he reaches for his laptop, sliding it over. "Hey, he emailed a bunch of pictures from the wedding this morning."

She perks up immediately and lightly slaps him on the arm. "Leonard Horatio McCoy, why didn't you say that in the first place?" She pulls the laptop closer. "Getting all maudlin while we could have been admiring your Jim."

He can feel the blush warm his cheeks even as he smiles. "I don't think it was maudlin at all; I'm glad we talked. And he's not 'my Jim.'"

She just stares at him fondly for a moment. "You're right, and I'm glad, too. Thank you, Leo." She kisses him on the cheek. "But as for the second, even if you don't think he's your Jim, the fact that he gave you a name makes it pretty clear he thinks you're his Bones."

Leonard ducks his head as his face turns even redder, but he can't hide his smile as he opens the picture viewer and calls up the photos of his Jim.

\---

After several minutes spent oohing and aahing over the pictures of Jim and Aurelan and Jim and Sam and Jim and the cake and Jim and the house and Jim and the centerpieces...and Jim, Mama finally heads upstairs to get started on her usual Sunday routine.

Leonard cleans up and goes downstairs to do some more reading, but invariably ends up looking through the wedding photos again. They're all lovely, but his favorite is probably the close-up of Jim and Sam, arms around each other's waists, wearing matching wide smiles. Without his glasses, the crinkles around Jim's eyes are clearly visible, and more than once, Leonard finds himself unconsciously tracing those fine lines with his fingertip.

Another image he keeps returning to is one of Jim holding Deavon, wearing his surprisingly still-white ring bearer's suit. The boy is sound asleep in the way only children can manage, his arms slack at his sides and face pressed against Jim's shoulder.

The next picture is of Aurelan and Sam dancing as Jim and their parents sit at a nearby table. It's obviously later in the evening because Sam has lost his jacket and tie and Aurelan has lost her shoes, which Sam holds in one hand, his other resting in the small of her back. Without the high heels, she's several inches shorter than her husband and has her head tipped back so she can look into his eyes.

But while the image of the bride and groom is sweet, it's Jim who draws his attention like a magnet. He's sitting at a nearby table with his parents and new in-laws; like Sam, he's gotten rid of his jacket and tie. He's also apparently gotten rid of his contact lenses because he's (unfortunately) wearing his glasses again.

While the others at his table chat, Jim watches his big brother and new sister intently, looking proud and happy for the couple. As he continues to stare, Leonard wonders if there might not be just a touch of envy there, too. And who would blame him? He knows what it's like to want that kind of connection with another person, to find the other half that makes you whole.

It's impossible not to think about the two of them and how well they seem to fit together already. He tries not to think in terms of marriage or commitment because it's far too much too soon, but that doesn't stop the little voice in his head that's wondering 'what if.' Of course, Leonard being Leonard, there are plenty of negative possibilities that run through his brain as well as the positive.

He's trying stop the various scenarios, both good and bad, running through his brain when his phone rings. Grateful for the distraction, he picks it up and can't help but snicker as he sees it's Joce calling. Praying this isn't some kind of omen of things to come, he answers the call and begins chatting with his ex-wife.

\---

For the next hour and a half, he and Joce catch each other up on their lives, both personal and professional. She sends him pictures of the little adobe house she and Clay just bought outside Albuquerque. He sends her pictures of the growing stack of medical textbooks he's determined to read before September, as well as several of Jim. She teases Leonard about his fondness for blue-eyed blondes and compliments him on his good taste.

By the time they say their goodbyes, he's not only promised to attend the wedding but the rehearsal dinner as well. With Jim, of course. They laugh as they speculate about which will have Marietta's gossips more scandalized: her new Filipino husband or having her gay ex-husband and his boyfriend at the wedding. After they hang up, he sees Jim's sent several texts, and there's also one from Christine.

He's worried when he reads Christine's short message telling him she'll be out sick tomorrow. When he calls, her voice sounds hoarse and strained as she explains it's just a cold. He can't help but wonder if her sudden illness has something to do with her reaction when he'd mentioned Roger the Asshole last week. He tries gently pressing her for more information, but she assures him she just needs rest and fluids and she'll be back in a day, two at the most.

They agree she should just stay out until Wednesday, just to be safe. She lives alone, so he tells her to call him or Geoff if she needs anything but is doubtful she will since he can sense her distancing herself even over the phone.

After leaving Geoff a message, he spends several minutes finding someone to cover Christine's shifts. When Geoff calls him back later, they gossip like a couple of old biddies speculating on the cause of Christine's sudden illness, both convinced she's not actually sick. Geoff confirms that things with Roger the Asshole haven't been going well, though in deference to Christine's privacy, he doesn't go into detail. 

All either men know for certain is that R. the A. has been at MIT working on his Ph.D. since before Christine came to work with them and she's always the one spending her time and money to go visit him while he can never be bothered to do the same for her.

Despite their friendly disagreements about Christine's desire to study holistic medicine after she graduates, she's one of the smartest people Leonard knows – except when it comes to romance, apparently. Of course, he's made more than a few stupid decisions in that area, so he's really not one to talk. He tries to be diplomatic about the subject of toxic relationships since he and Christine feel much the same way about Geoff's girlfriend Sarah as he and Geoff feel about Roger the Asshole.

_Dear God, I'm turning into Bubbeh Hannah._

It takes a while before Leonard realizes Sarah's name hasn't been mentioned once, which is unusual when two men gossip about friends' relationships. He knows he should feel guilty about it, but he hopes this means things between Geoff and Sarah are cooling off. She's not a bad person, but she is one of the more self-centered people he's ever met and he and Christine both think she takes advantage of Geoff's laid-back personality.

He really believes Christine and Geoff would be perfect for one another, but if he ever starts trying to make that happen, he might as well start wearing a housecoat and put his hair in curlers because he really _will_ have become his great-grandmother.

Once he and Geoff have finished their little pick-a-little-talk-a-little session, he finally gets to reading Jim's texts.

**Good Morning!**  
 **Just getting ready to head back to the house for brunch and present-opening and hanging out with the family for the rest of the day.**  
 **So far, everybody is in good spirits and pretty good health.**  
 **I think we all learned our lesson on Thursday. *g***  
 **Though Mo and Shani (A's folks) look a little peaked and Chris says Mom is a bit hungover, too.**  
 **Guess they were all celebrating more than the rest of us since the hard part is finally over.**  
 **Until the bills come in, that is. *g***  
 **Hope you're having a great Sunday. Skype tonight?**

Smiling, Leonard moves on to the next message.

**Now I know why so many people want to get married: loot. *g***

In the attached image, Sam and Aurelan are sitting outside in a pair of lawn chairs. Around them is a truly mind-boggling collection of gifts stacked on top of one another for several feet all around them and disappearing out of frame. 

The next few texts have no messages, just pictures of the newlyweds opening and admiring their impressive haul. The last picture shows Aurelan holding up what looks like a foot-tall, cut crystal parrot sitting on a shiny gold-plated branch. It's hideous. She looks at the gift bemusedly while Sam stares straight at the camera (and presumably at Jim) in exasperation. This time, there's a message to accompany the picture.

**My gift to the Happy Couple.**  
 **I call him Fernando. *g***

Leonard laughs for a solid two minutes before he can compose a reply.

**Please tell me you got them something else!**  
 **I swear my Grandma Rose has something like that in her living room.**  
 **Though it probably has a doily under it. ;)**  
 **Skype tonight sounds good. I should be home all day.**  
 **How are they supposed to get all that home, btw?**

Half an hour later, his phone chimes.

**Damn, I should've gotten a doily to go with it!**  
 **Would've been far more appropriate than the ebelskiver pan I got them.**  
 **Sam loves them and he's gotten Aurelan addicted.**  
 **Sounds like your Grandma Rose has excellent taste. *g***  
 **Chris and Mom are flying Ensie to the west coast in Aug and they'll bring most of the gifts with them then.**  
 **Ensie is Chris's Cessna Skyhawk, tail #NC1701.**  
 **We're taking her out tomorrow morning and I can't wait!**  
 **It's been months since I've been behind the stick.**  
 **If you know what I mean. *g***

Even though he chuckles at Jim's silly joke, his stomach tightens at the thought of Jim flying in a little private plane, though the knowledge that Jim will be the one actually doing the piloting eases that tension somewhat.

He tries to set aside his anxiety and not project it on to Jim as he writes his reply.

**I have no idea what an eb-thingy is. Are they good?**  
 **Grandma Rose has horrible taste. Everything's pink flowers and lace.**  
 **I swear she has doilies for her doilies. :)**  
 **It's nice of your mom and Chris to act as a private UPS service!**  
 **Are they coming to SF, too?**  
 **Glad you'll get some stick time in.**  
 **I hope you're not too out of practice with the stick, though. ;)**  
 **It's almost evening for you. Are they done opening presents?**

Leonard takes a moment to relax and forget about planes and flying, focusing his attention on finishing his immunology textbook. He's only read a page before he receives Jim's reply.

**Ebelskiver are a bit like beignets, but better and not fried.**   
**You can fill them with cheese or jam or chocolate. Whatever.**   
**Plain with powdered sugar and lemon is my favorite.**   
**They're excellent for breakfast. I'll make them for you some time. *g***   
**Mom and Chris will be in SF for several days after they visit Spokane.**   
**They really want to meet you. Consider yourself warned.**   
**'Out of practice!?' Please, I know exactly how to handle the stick.**   
**Any stick. *innocent***   
**We are not anywhere near done opening presents.**   
**Each one has to be noted and photographed with the happy-and-appreciative couple for the thank you cards.**   
**We may be here until dawn. *g***   
**If I'm back at the hotel by 11 your time, you still up for a Skype session?**

He can feel his cheeks warm at the increasingly sexual tone of their flirting and remembers his response the last time Jim asked if he was "up" for something. Granted, Jim had been emotional at the time, so he hadn't risen to Leonard's bait.

_Ba-dum-dum. Shhh!_

He decides to try it again, though he's a little nervous since he has neither a relaxing bath nor bourbon to blame this time. 

**I'll be up for you any time you need me to. ;)**  
 **I make a damned good biscuits and gravy, if I do say so myself. And I do.**  
 **Between that and your eb-thingys, sounds like we can make the kind of breakfast that walks up to your heart and says stop. :D**  
 **Speaking of parents and warnings: my mother wants to meet you and soon.**  
 **Hell, she works for UCSF and I just realized you may have met her already.**  
 **How weird would that be?**  
 **I can see keeping track of who sent what gift – but pictures, too?**  
 **Please tell me you all have booze to help get you through this.**  
 **Eloping is SO much easier. Though there is very little loot to be had. :/**  
 **I'll probably be up past midnight, so 11 works just fine.**  
 **See you soon. :)**

Between their innuendo-filled texts and Leonard's anxiety about Jim's upcoming flights, he can't concentrate on immunology and gives up after fifteen minutes. The fog is rolling in and he can feel the chill even through the insulated walls and double-glazed windows. Breathing deep, he catches a whiff of something delicious and his stomach rumbles, making him realize he skipped lunch.

By the time he gets upstairs, he's pretty sure what it is he's smelling, and Mama confirms the minestrone she made will be ready soon. They eat dinner in front of the TV like they usually do, chatting during commercials. After dinner, he wishes his mother goodnight before heading downstairs.

His bedroom is barely larger than the one he had as a child, but he doesn't mind it since it's more than made up for by the size of the bathroom. It has a large, walk-in shower with multiple shower heads and a deep, wide tub set before a window that looks out over the deck and garden. The amount of water it takes to fill the damned thing makes him a little guilty, but he still indulges in a long soak most weekends.

Settling into the almost-too-hot water, he sighs as the heat immediately begins to relax tired muscles. Careful to keep his arm out over the edge of the tub, he checks his phone to see that Jim sent another message earlier.

**I hate you.**  
 **The temptation to start sexting is overwhelming right now.**  
 **But my GRANDMOTHER is sitting right next to me with one of her great-grandchildren on her lap.**  
 **There is nothing less sexy, yet all I want to do is get you up for me.**  
 **I swear to god, if Grammy Flynn asks if I have a fever, I will never talk to you again.**  
 **Jump you, yes. Talk to you, no. *g***  
 **And Skype sex is out because I'm sharing the room with my cousin Kevin.**  
 **Good kid, but he's a KID. And my cousin. And no.**  
 **So, I'll tell you this: when I'm handling the stick tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you.**  
 **And it won't be the first time.**  
 ***polishes halo***

The phone bounces against the rug and Leonard resists the urge to lunge for it knowing any water he gets on it will do far more damage than the two-foot drop onto the thick shag. Sinking into the water, he leans his head back and groans. "Damn it, Jim." He plunges his hand under the water and lets his mind wander down paths that are already familiar. It isn't the first time he's done this, but it's the first time he's done it with the knowledge that Jim has, too.

That image, of Jim sitting low in the water, legs spread, knobby knees sticking out above the edge of the tub, hand moving purposefully under the water means Leonard gets himself off faster than he has since he was a teenager. Afterwards, he lets himself float, enjoying the combination of endorphins and warm water, envisioning Jim doing the same. That leads to thoughts of sharing the suddenly too-big tub with Jim, wet skin sliding against wet skin from neck to knees. He lets his imagination lead him where it will, body sated but still hungry for the touch of Jim's body against his.

Several minutes later, his breathing has calmed and he grabs a nearby washcloth to dry off his hands before picking up his phone and typing a reply, a wicked smirk on his face.

**I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who's been doing a lot of stick-handling lately.**  
 **So happy, in fact, that now I need to take a shower once I'm done with my bath. ;)**  
 **Say hi to Grammy Flynn for me!**  
 ***flutters wings***

He's read several chapters of his book and the water is starting to get cold when his phone chimes. Since he doesn't want to risk a repeat of his earlier fumbling, he waits until he's out of the tub and has taken a quick shower before he reads Jim's latest.

**You are dead to me.**  
 **We're heading back to the hotel now.**  
 **I'll need a shower and some quality stick time once we get there.**  
 **Skype around 8:15 your time?**  
 **PS: I still hate you.**

Chuckling, he puts the phone down so he can finish drying off and get dressed, thinking of Jim in the shower enjoying his "quality stick time." It's enough to make him want to jump in the shower again and do the same, but he decides against it and continues getting ready for bed. As much as he revels in their increasingly sexual exchanges, he finds just as much pleasure in the tease and building tension between them. Even as his desire for Jim grows, so does his fondness. He truly _likes_ Jim and the pleasure he takes in just talking and spending time with him – albeit virtually – both increases and tempers Leonard's lust.

The combination of emotions Jim stirs in him is new and thrilling and a little bit frightening. Leonard is constantly fighting his own pessimistic nature, trying instead to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Thoughts of riding quickly lead his mind down dark, dangerous and delicious paths his body would willingly follow, so he focuses on flossing and brushing instead of wondering how he'll stay sane until their date on Friday.

He's booting up his computer to get on Skype when he realizes he was so focused on not thinking about Jim too much that he forgot to reply. Grabbing his phone, he types up a quick response.

**The feeling is mutual!**  
 **Do you know how many long showers I've taken in the last couple of weeks?**  
 **Our PG &E bill is going to be huge and I do not want to have to explain that to my mother. :/**  
 **I'm logging on now, so I'm up and ready for you, Darlin. ;)**

Leonard shakes his head at his own silliness as he logs on and waits for Jim's response. He doesn't have to wait long.

**Then ping me, ping me NOW.**

He doesn't even know what "ping" means in this context, but gets the gist. A few clicks and Jim appears on the screen, face flushed and hair damp. Leonard gulps and feels unaccountably shy all of a sudden. It's mixed in with heavy dose of lust as he watches Jim bite his tongue and lick his lips; it occurs to Leonard that Jim may be feeling the same way.

Minutes pass as they fidget and stare, but never hold eye contact too long before looking away. Jim puts his hand over his mouth and his shoulders begin to shake and Leonard realizes he's laughing, presumably at how ridiculous the two of them are acting. Feeling relieved and foolish in equal measure, he starts to chuckle, until both of them are literally in tears and Jim's gruff, barking laughter comes through the small speakers, making him laugh even harder.

Jim finally wipes his eyes and shakes his head as he begins to sign.

[[I am an idiot.]]

They're both still snickering but calming down as Leonard signs a quick reply.

[[If you are, then so am I.]]

Bringing his hands up, Jim suddenly stops chuckling, looking as if something has just occurred to him. He begins typing and the chat window pops up on Leonard's screen.

**That was the best ping I ever had.**

Leonard cannot control himself as he starts laughing again and doesn't stop for a while, enjoying the sight and sound of Jim doing the same. It's hard to type and laugh at the same time, but he manages.

**And it was my first ping!**  
 **Imagine how much better it'll be next time we ping.**  
 **I only get better with practice, Darlin'.**

The blush high on Jim's cheeks is visible even as he giggles and tilts his head down to focus on the keyboard while he types his response. The way he bites his lower lip and looks up through his lashes at the camera suddenly make Leonard swallow hard and wish he'd taken that second shower.

**"Darlin'?" Is that a special kind of Darling?**  
 **Does that mean I can call you Honey?**

He suddenly feels like an idiot for spelling out pronunciation for someone who can't hear it. He knows Jim won't mind, but reminding him of the things he's missing – like the exaggerated drawl Leonard has used with past lovers – is something he usually avoids doing. Jim's brow furrows and Leonard smiles to reassure him as he begins typing.

**"Honey" is what my mother calls me. So, NO.**  
 **"Darlin'" is a special Southern "Darling" since we tend to drop the g's at the end of words.**  
 **I don't do it normally, just for effect. Sorry, I wasn't thinking.**

When Jim glances up from the chat window, Leonard gives him an apologetic look and gets a smile and shake of the head in return before Jim starts to sign.

[[It's OK, Bones.]]

Leonard signs back a thank-you and Jim returns to typing.

**Agreed: Honey is out. How about Sweetie?**  
 **Or is that too River Song?**  
 **Baby, maybe?**  
 **Don't ever apologize for talking about speaking and hearing, please.**  
 **That's normal for you and I like you fine just as you are.**  
 **Are g's the only thing you drop for effect?**

Jim's expression is a combination of lewd, amused and shy and Leonard suddenly wants to be in the other man's presence so badly he almost aches with it. Eyes never leaving the image of Jim on the screen, he raises his hands.

[[I'll drop anything you want me to, Jim.]]

He swears he can actually see Jim's pupils dilate and the red flush on his cheeks is definitely darker. He continues to sign.

[[But I like Bones best.]]

Licking his lips, Jim raises his hands.

[[I like Bones best, too.]]

Nerves and frustrated lust have him on edge and he jumps when he hears the sound of a door slamming closed through the laptop's tiny speakers. Jim looks at the screen in concern for a moment before his attention shifts to something beyond the laptop and his eyes widen as he begins signing with whoever it is that just came in. Leonard suddenly remembers Jim mentioning sharing the hotel room with his cousin and he's guessing that's who it is.

As if sensing his thoughts, Jim turns his attention back to the screen.

[[Sorry, my cousin just came in. Wait a bit, please?]]

Leonard nods and watches as Jim gets up, unconsciously giving the camera a clear shot of his crotch before he pulls the hem of his t-shirt down and walks away. Seems like Leonard isn't the only one enjoying their conversation. When he realizes he's actually licking his lips and wondering if there's a way to rewind the video, he takes a deep breath and tries to get himself under control.

_This is going to be the longest week in the history of weeks._

It's only a minute or two before Jim returns, signing an apology that Leonard quickly dismisses. With a rueful look, Jim continues.

[[I totally forgot about him. It's almost 11 so I can't kick him out.]]

Jim's grinning as he signs and Leonard is both disappointed and relieved since he honestly doesn't know how far he would've let things go. He suspects he's already willing to go pretty far for Jim. Leonard nods his understanding.

[[Do you need to go? I don't have to get to bed until midnight.]]

Shaking his head, Jim gives him a warm smile.

[[I'm not ready to say goodnight yet.]] 

Smiling back at him, Leonard quickly searches for a safer topic, mindful that Jim's young cousin is in the room.

The first thing that comes to mind makes his stomach churn a little bit, but he knows Jim's passionate about it and he enjoys seeing the excitement on his handsome face when he's talking about something he loves. Taking a moment to recall the correct signs, he raises his hands.

[[Tell me about the plane you're going to be flying tomorrow.]]

He's obviously chosen the right topic since Jim's eyes light up and he grins, signing so fast that Leonard has to ask him to slow down. Using Sign and the chat window, Jim spends the next half hour telling Leonard all about the freedom and joy of piloting your own airplane. His enthusiasm is so pure and heartfelt that by the time they say goodnight, Leonard is almost convinced flying isn't so bad after all.


	15. Day Fifteen: Monday

Leonard's day is less than an hour old and he's already grumpy. Or more grumpy than usual. He wants to blame Jim, but he knows that isn't fair. However, he can honestly say it's mostly Jim-related, so maybe it really is his fault after all.

After Jim had spent half an hour extolling the wonders of flying, they'd spent another several minutes discussing the coming week, both eagerly and impatiently anticipating their date on Friday night. In order to spend as much time with his family as possible, Jim is taking a later flight today, meaning he won't be home until close to midnight.

Making matters worse, Jim is going to be working ten-hour days all week as his department prepares to launch their new software system. Between his early days and Leonard's late nights as temporary manager, they may be limited to text and email conversation all week.

It's been five days since he last saw Jim and it looks like he won't be able to see him even via video chat for another five.

All in all, he thinks his mood is entirely justified.

He's cutting up a banana for his cereal when he gets a text.

_Speak of the devil..._

Before he can pick up the phone, the chime rings again and he opens the first text to see a picture of Jim and Chris standing in front of a small plane that must be their beloved "Ensie." His mood takes a nosedive (unfortunate choice of words) when he sees just how tiny the plane is. Jim had described it in loving detail last night, even sharing links to pictures of the same model.

Neither man is unusually tall, but they're both almost the same height as the plane and it's clear they're going to have to practically fold themselves in half just to squeeze inside the cockpit. His palms immediately begin to sweat and his mind jibbers in fear as he looks at the single propeller. He laughs somewhat hysterically at the image of them winding it up with a rubber band like a little balsa wood model.

He tries to focus his panicked brain on the two men standing with their arms around each other's shoulders. They're both wearing aviator sunglasses, of course, and big happy smiles. He swears he can see a resemblance between the two despite the fact that they're not genetically related. Maybe it's the hair: Chris's is a similar shade of dark blond as Jim's, though it's liberally shot through with white.

Breathing slowly, he gradually brings his worry under control and finally notices the message.

**Perfect day for flying!**  
 **We were out for four hours and are doing a quick refueling stop – for us and Ensie – before going out for another hour or two.**  
 **It's really beautiful up there, Bones.**

Relieved that they've already taken off and landed once, but worried about Jim's upcoming flights, Leonard almost wants to just sleep through the day until Jim texts him from the airport confirming he's arrived safely.

Wishing he didn't have to go to work and that it wasn't socially unacceptable to drink at eight-thirty on a Monday morning, he looks at the next picture. This one makes him smile despite the anxiety churning in his gut. He assumes Chris is sitting next to Jim in the cockpit because the picture is taken from the side and in it Jim sits in the left-hand pilot's seat – the captain's seat, as Jim explained last night. There's an enormous smile splitting his face as he stares out the window in front of him, hands on the controls. Past him, Leonard can see an endless stretch of bright blue sky: the perfect flying weather Jim had mentioned.

Even though his stomach is tight with worry, he also delights in Jim's happiness. He looks so _right_ in that seat and Leonard knows Jim would be professional pilot right now if his deafness didn't make that impossible. The idea saddens him because he's certain any plane with Captain Kirk at the helm would be in the best possible hands.

Shaking off his maudlin thoughts, he focuses on not letting his anxiety bleed into his reply.

**Looking good there, Captain! *winks***  
 **Glad you got clear skies and I hope the rest of your flights today are just as fun and easy.**  
 **Text me before your first flight home, if you can.**  
 **One of the perks of being manager: getting to have your cell phone with you. :D**  
 **Be safe and I'll talk to you soon!**

Setting the phone down, he groans, looking at the soggy mass that was once cereal. Checking the clock, he sighs and powers through his breakfast slop with banana as fast as he can so he can finally be on his way.

\---

By noon, his mood has improved. While she's no Christine, Gemma is doing a great job filling in and more than once he makes a point to thank her for giving up her day off on such short notice. He and Geoff share snippets of gossip about Christine when they have a moment. Geoff had called her yesterday and confirms that she's more heartsick than physically sick. As the morning passes, they continue to debate about the best way to handle the situation when Christine returns.

Focusing on his friend's romantic woes helps keep Leonard from worrying too much about Jim's upcoming flights. Still, he breathes a sigh of relief when he checks his phone later and sees several new messages.

**Thanks! I keep asking for a pilot's cap for my birthday, but so far...**   
***pouts***   
**(Jan 4, btw *g*)**   
**Second run was just as gorgeous as the first.**   
**I'm serious about taking you flying. Learning how it all works helps a lot of people.**   
**Lunch and then off to the airport.**   
**I'll text before takeoff.**   
**Kirk out!**

Attached are two pictures, both taken from Ensie. The first shows a patchwork of fields far below a clear sky with just a few wisps of clouds to break up the expanse of blue. The second shot is much closer to the ground and in the center of the picture is a two-story house surrounded by a large green lawn and sprawling gardens. When he enlarges the picture, he can see several figures standing out front and it appears that they're waving up at the passing plane.

Reducing the picture size again, he recognizes the blue and white color scheme and chuckles at the realization that it's the Kirk family home, apparently already returned to normal after the weekend's festivities. The images really are beautiful, and despite his phobia he envies Jim for being able to enjoy the scenery from the air. 

Unfortunately, just thinking of flying in the tiny aircraft makes his palms sweat, so instead he envisions Jim in a full pilot's uniform complete with the cap he's claimed he's wanted for so long.

**One of the many things I like about you is how subtle you are. ;)**  
 **Thanks for the pics, they really are beautiful.**  
 **I can see why you love flying so much.**  
 **And thanks for the offer. I'm honestly considering it, but make no promises.**  
 **If we don't get a chance to talk before you take off, travel safe and I'll talk to you when you get to Chicago! :D**

Message sent, he pockets the phone and heads back to work.

\---

He knows it's abuse of his temporary authority, but when he feels his phone vibrate, Leonard decides to take his lunch break early, knowing Jim's plane will be taking off soon.

**My subtlety is part of my charm. *g***  
 **We're all frightened of something, whether it's logical or not.**  
 **I wasn't kidding when I said I hate spiders.**  
 **Used to torch them with a lighter and can of hairspray.**  
 **Lucky I didn't burn the house down. *g***  
 **The flight offer is open any time but I won't push it.**  
 **I'm ready to take off with you whenever you are. *innocent***  
 **We're about to board, so I'll text you from Chicago.**  
 **Hope you're having a great day!**

Smiling, he moves on to the message that arrived while he was reading the first.

**Guess who's on the flight with me?**  
 **The Happy Couple themselves!**  
 **They won't tell me where they're headed, though they say it's not SF.**  
 **It'll be great to be able to chat during the flight since we didn't have much chance to talk during all the craziness this weekend.**  
 **How are you enjoying being the ruler of all you survey? *g***  
 **Time to shut down all electronic devices so I'll talk to you soon!**

The knowledge that Jim has his brother and new sister-in-law with him should make Leonard feel better, but it just increases the knot of worry in his stomach at the idea of the family members all flying together. 

After wiping his damp palms on his jeans, he tries to tamp down his nervousness and channel some of Jim's enthusiasm as he responds.

**Wow, they're serious about keeping their honeymoon plans secret!**  
 **Would your mom and stepdad really crash-**

He stops, wincing at his choice of words and hits the delete button.

**Would your mom and stepdad really show up like you and Sam did or are the newlyweds being paranoid?**  
 **Any guesses where they might be headed?**  
 **What possessed you to interrupt your mom’s honeymoon, anyway?**  
 **Glad you have some company for at least part of the trip.**  
 **Managing a coffee house is my life's ambition, so I'm on Cloud 9. ;)**  
 **Actually, things are going smoothly so far, though Christine is out sick.**  
 **Geoff and I sure it's because of her asshole boyfriend. :/**  
 **Not abusive, just a jerk.**  
 **With any luck she'll be back on Wed and feeling better.**  
 **And single.**  
 **I hope you and the newlyweds had a great flight.**  
 **Thanks for the text and talk to you when you get to Chicago!**

Purposefully setting the phone aside so he doesn't obsessively check the status of Jim's flight, Leonard goes to reheat his lunch. Twenty minutes later, he picks up the phone and sees that United flight 6017 is en route and on schedule to arrive in Chicago at five-twenty local time.

With a relieved sigh, he finishes his lunch and then tells Geoff to take his break as he returns to work, trying to think happy-landing thoughts.

\---

When he feels his phone vibrate a couple of hours later, he's only got one customer left to cash out and there's nobody in line. After he hands the customer her change, he steps inside the break room to check his messages.

Geoff looks up from the table where he's finishing his sandwich and gives Leonard a knowing smile. "How's Jim?" Leonard just rolls his eyes and Geoff laughs when the text alert chimes again. Geoff goes back to reading his book, saying "Pretend I'm not here."

**Just landed!**  
 **One fight down, one to go.**  
 **As much as I like flying, I'm ready to be home.**  
 **Besides, there's so much waiting for me in SF...**  
 **I guess S & A's flight leaves pretty soon, so I'm going to escort them to their gate and I'll text you again in a bit.**  
 **I wonder how much they'll pay me not to tell anyone where they're going? *g***

Leonard grins as he opens the next message.

**The newlyweds are boarding their flight to Vancouver.**  
 **They're doing a 10-day Alaskan cruise and I have solemnly promised not to tell anybody in the family until after they've left port tomorrow.**  
 **Sadly, no money changed hands.**  
 **That's OK since we already filled their suitcases with confetti. *g***  
 **I hope they remember to tip their maid really well. *innocent***  
 **Mom married Chris four years ago.**  
 **Sam and I love him - he's a great guy and we're all lucky to have him.**  
 **But he crashed his sister's honeymoon 10+ years ago and she and her husband promised to get him back.**  
 **They weren't able to get revenge in person because their two kids had to get back to school.**  
 **But they encouraged Sam and I to do it and even bought us plane tickets.**  
 **I was 18 and Sam was 21 and we weren't going to turn down free trip to CA.**  
 **After they'd calmed down, Mom and Chris got us a room at a local hotel and we spent a couple of days sightseeing before they sent us home.**  
 **A fine time was had by all. I think. *g***

He's laughing so hard at the idea of poor Sam and Aurelan thinking they've escaped only to find all their clothes covered in confetti that he almost misses the sound of the text alert.

**Sorry that Christine's having a hard time.**  
 **She's too nice be dating a jerk.**  
 **Why do people date jerks?**  
 **I went out with this guy named Gary for a couple of months and he was awful.**  
 **He was only my second boyfriend and totally took advantage of my inexperience with guys.**  
 **He treated me like crap and tried to pass it off as just the way men were with each other or something.**  
 **And he used his deafness to lure people in and take advantage of them.**  
 **I realized he was treating me like one of Mom's ex-boyfriends treated her and I kicked him to the curb fast.**  
 **Wish it never happened, but at least I learned from the experience faster than Mom learned from hers.**  
 **I know better now and I know when I've got a good thing and how to hold on to it.**  
 **And I've got a great thing right now. *g***

Fury and pleasure war in Leonard's brain. The idea that someone would take advantage of Jim that way is enough to have him unconsciously balling his hands into fists. Knowing it was in the past and there is nothing he could do about it, he tries to focus on Jim's mention of holding on to the "great thing" he has right now. It helps calm his anger but he still takes a few moments to cool down before he replies.

**You better hope S &A are the forgiving types or that invitation to visit them will be canceled. ;)**   
**An Alaska cruise sounds wonderful and I hope they have a great time.**   
**At least they'll have tonight to get the confetti out of their clothes before they set sail. :)**   
**You realize this means they'll get revenge and it won't be pretty. ;)**   
**What is it with your family and ruining each other's honeymoons, anyway?**   
**Christine is a great person and her boyfriend Roger the Asshole (as we call him) lives in MA and goes to MIT.**   
**She flies to Boston to visit him several times a year but he never comes here.**   
**She idolizes him, but even when she gushes about him he sounds like an egotistical ass.**   
**Geoff and I think he's just stringing her along and I hope she's broken up with him.**   
**It'll hurt her, but she'll be much better off.**   
**I think that everybody has at least one crappy relationship in their lives.**   
**You had Gary (who I want to punch in the throat, btw), I had Marco, Geoff still has Sarah (unfortunately) and Christine hopefully HAD Roger. :/**   
**If we're lucky, they don't last long and are a one-time thing.**   
**Wow, that got deep, didn't it? ;)**   
**And long. ;) And I should get back to work soon.**   
**If I don't talk to you beforehand, fly safe and we'll definitely chat when you get home. Yay! :D**

Leonard sits for a moment, thinking about all that he'd learned about Jim and his family as well as everything he'd told, or at least hinted, to Jim in their most recent exchanges. He let the reference to Mrs. Kirk's ex-boyfriends slide since that seemed a subject far more delicate and complex to get into over text.

He can't help but recall Jim's mention of his troubled adolescence and that apparently included more than one arrest as well as the destruction of a classic car. There's so much more to Jim than he ever suspected and Leonard's eager to find out everything he can about him. His musings are interrupted when the text alert sounds.

**You can get deep and long with me any time.**  
 ***bats eyes***  
 **Roger does sound awful and I hope you're right about Christine dumping him.**  
 **And why would anybody want to be mistreat Geoff? He seems like a sweet guy.**  
 **Isn't it crazy the way we tell ourselves we don't deserve better sometimes?**  
 **Mom had a string of guys who were either indifferent or just used her. *sighs***  
 **Frank was the last straw and he actually treated her better than most, but...**  
 **...but that story will have to wait for email.**  
 **The honeymoon-crashing started with Chris's first marriage.**  
 **His new in-laws found out they were going to Hawaii and showed up at a luau one night.**  
 **Sadly, his wife Prima died when their car was hit by a drunk driver ten years ago.**  
 **Chris's back was broken and it took him a year of rehab to walk again.**  
 **He and Mom met on an online forum for Navy vets and families who'd lost spouses.**  
 **They were email friends for years before they started dating.**  
 **Who was this Marco you dated and do you need me to take care of him for you?**  
 **I've got a mean right hook. *g***  
 **Our plane – or "equipment" as they call it – has been delayed, but not by much.**  
 **We're due to take off about 15 minutes late, so I shouldn't be home too late.**  
 **Have a good afternoon and I'll text you from SFO!**

Leonard's pleased but confused by Jim's come on until he goes back and rereads the message he'd sent earlier and laughs at his unconscious slip. His mood quickly becomes somber as he reads the rest of Jim's text, recalling his high school friend Austin and his fiancée killed by a drunk driver. His curiosity is piqued by Jim's mention of his mother's exes again and decides that means the topic is open for discussion.

**Would you believe me if I said I didn't even notice what I'd said until you replied? :D**  
 **Glad that your "equipment" is fully functional, even if it is a little slow. ;)**  
 **That's awful about Chris and his wife but I'm glad he's recovered so well and had a support network.**  
 **To be walking again after breaking his back is amazing.**  
 **I'm so sorry your mother had such a hard time.**  
 **I can't imagine how difficult it was after your dad died.**  
 **If you don't mind me asking, does that have anything to do with that Corvette you mentioned?**  
 **If I'm being nosy, just tell me to back off.**  
 **My mother was dating a nice guy, but it didn't work out.**  
 **Even after six years, she's not read to move on. :/**  
 **They weren't a perfect couple, but she says Daddy was her soulmate.**  
 **I don't know if most people are lucky enough to find one of those, much less two.**  
 **Again, I'm getting all serious and shit. Sorry!**  
 **It's time to get back to work, so enjoy your "equipment" and happy flight! :)**

He rereads, deletes and rewrites, trying to get the tone just right. Finally deciding it's as good as it's going to get, he sends the text and pockets his phone before heading to the front of the store.

It's not too busy, but there are just enough customers that he isn't able to stop to read Jim's message until after the flight should have departed.

**My equipment is NOT slow!**  
 **Unless you like it slow, that is. *bg***  
 **Honestly, we've both had serious things happen to us and I'm OK with discussing them with you.**  
 **Chris needs a cane sometimes, but otherwise he's in perfect health, thankfully.**  
 **And you're not being nosy – I brought up the car in the first place, after all.**  
 **Frank actually had everything to do with that and my later law enforcement encounters. *g***  
 **I've been meaning to put all that in an email, but not until I get home.**  
 **It was a bad time – that I'm perfectly fine talking about!**  
 **But I wanted to focus on the good this weekend.**  
 **It was 16 years before Mom found the right man, so I guess it just takes as long as it takes. *shrug***  
 **And on that philosophical note, we'll be boarding soon and I should text Mom.**  
 **Talk to you when I land!**

Pulling up the tracking app, Leonard can see that Jim's flight took off a not long ago and is due to arrive about a quarter to ten that night. It'll be close to midnight by the time Jim gets home and Leonard knows he's supposed to work from six-thirty to five-thirty for the rest of the week.

He feels bad for Jim having to rush back to work jet lagged and on little sleep. And he feels bad for himself since their conflicting schedules and Jim's long hours means they probably won't even have time to Skype before their date on Friday. Wondering if it would be rude to ask Jim whether they could just skip dinner altogether, he hits the reply button.

**Slow, fast, medium...it's all good when you've got the right partner to dance with.**  
 **You were talking about dancing, weren't you? ;)**  
 **Definitely focus on the good!**  
 **Whenever you're ready to tell the tale, I'm ready to read it.**  
 **But please don't let it ruin your post-wedding weekend buzz. :)**  
 **Can I tell you a secret? I'm not ready for my mother to find someone, either.**  
 **Does that make me a bad person? :/**  
 **Welcome back to The Land of Fog! :D**

Message sent, Leonard checks the app again, confirming that Jim's flight has reached its cruising altitude. His fear eased – at least for now – he slips his phone into his pocket and heads back to work.

\---

After Gemma and Edith leave later that night, he and Geoff spend most of the rest of the evening talking about Christine while they clean up and try to get as many of their closing tasks done as possible before they shut the doors for the night.

Again, he notes that Geoff never mentions his girlfriend. He even declines Leonard's offer to let him go a few minutes early, something he'd normally readily accept since it would give him more time to spend with Sarah. Geoff finally leaves at eight and Leonard follows about thirty minutes later, grateful to put his first day as temporary manager behind him.

\---

His evening is unremarkable: a quick shower followed by supper with his mother while they watch the Cubs win for a change. By the time he heads back downstairs, Jim's flight is due to land and he follows the plane's progress online until it safely touches down. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Leonard smiles. "Welcome home, Jim."


	16. Day Sixteen: Tuesday

During his ride to work, Leonard rereads the messages he and Jim had exchanged the night before. They shared stories, anecdotes, random thoughts and increasingly sexual innuendoes from a few minutes after Jim's plane had landed until just before he went to bed. A few of the messages make Leonard blush, laugh and groan in turns as he remembers that Friday is still three days away.

_Three endless days..._

At least work proves a distraction and he's just finishing going over the day's plans when he feels his phone vibrate. Technically, there are still a few minutes before he's supposed to start, so he steps outside to enjoy the surprisingly warm morning and read Jim's text.

**You are a life-ruiner. *g***  
 **I desperately need caffeine if I'm going to make it through the day, but I'm stuck at Parn.**  
 **It's either hospital cafeteria coffee or Starbucks here.**  
 **I used to like Starbucks, then you had to go and spoil it for me.**  
 **You guys need to open a store here!**  
 **Barring that, you need to open a delivery service. *g***  
 **Hope your day is going better than mine.**  
 **At least you have decent coffee. *g***

For a moment, Leonard actually wonders how long it would take to get a shuttle to the Parnassus campus and back. It's crazy to even consider making a two-hour round trip just to spend a few minutes with Jim and bring him a cold cup of coffee. Obviously, the days of separation from Jim have made Leonard a desperate man.

**I'd happily play delivery boy for you if I could get away without Janice killing me. :)**  
 **I'll play anything you like, actually.**  
 **Except chess. I suck at chess. ;)**  
 **Sorry you're stuck in a coffee wasteland, though.**  
 **Don't tell anyone I said this, but Starbucks is OK if you stick with espresso drinks.**  
 **But at this point, it seems like you just need a caffeine delivery system. ;)**  
 **Work beckons, so good luck making it through the day! :D**

Taking a moment to make sure the ringer is off, he slips the phone into his pocket and heads inside to supervise another day of caffeine delivery system production.

\---

The morning is busy yet boring since he would rather be brewing coffee rather than cashing people out and warming up pastries, but at least it means there are moments when he can sneak a glance at his phone without being too obvious. He's surprised to see the first message he receives is not from Jim but Christine, telling him she's feeling better and will be back tomorrow.

When he sends her a text asking if she's certain, her reply is immediate and positive, so he decides not to push it. Not much later he gets another message from Jim.

**I am awesome at chess, if I do say so myself.**  
 **And I do. *g***  
 **I bet you could be a great player as long as you have the right coach.**  
 **Promise to bring an apple for the teacher and I'll show you all my tricks.**  
 ***bats eyes***  
 **I got a mocha with an extra shot.**  
 **Chocolate covers a myriad of faults. *g***  
 **Back to the computerized grindstone.**  
 **Is it five yet?**

Leonard sighs.

_Forget five. Is it Friday yet?_

He once again wonders if it would be rude to ask Jim if they could just skip their dinner and go straight to his place. Or Jim's place. Or a hotel room. Men's room. Back alley. Any place where the two of them could be alone. Tearing his mind away from his fantasies of what he wants to do to and with Jim once they finally meet up, he cashes out several customers and hopes his face doesn't look as flushed as it feels.

The pace picks up and he needs to cover for the other three before he can take his break, so he doesn't have a chance to reply until he's in the break room enjoying his government-mandated 15 minutes of peace.

**I'd be happy to be your student but I draw the line at plaid skirts. ;)**  
 **Since an apple a day is supposed to keep the doctor away, how about a peach instead?**  
 **And don't think this pupil doesn't have some tricks of his own.**  
 **When in doubt: chocolate. That’s my motto.**  
 **Were you able to get any sleep at all last night?**  
 **I know we talked about maybe Skyping tonight, but I think sleep should be your priority.**  
 **Besides, Friday is only three days away! :D**

Afternoon becomes evening and the fog has begun to roll in by the time Jim replies.

**"Do I dare eat a peach?"**  
 **No skirts, really? *sadface* I bet you have great legs.**  
 **How about a kilt? Grandpa Tiberius wore his to the wedding and he looked awesome.**  
 **He was disappointed Sam and I didn't wear ours.**  
 **The Kirk tartan is green and red and SO not Aurelan's color scheme.**  
 **She wove some of the fabric into her bouquet, which made us all weepy.**  
 **I look forward to learning all your tricks.**  
 **And maybe we can make up some new ones of our own. *g***  
 **Don't mention sleep to me, I'm already yawning.**

As he's reading, another text arrives.

**Homeward bound at last! *g***  
 **I keep thinking that I need to wake up and do this all again in less than 12 hours.**  
 **It's not a happy thought.**  
 **Hopefully, we can Skype for a bit later.**  
 **You're home by 9, right?**  
 **Dinner in T-minus 3 days, 1 hour and 34 minutes.**  
 **Not that I'm counting. *g***

Leonard's grin becomes a scowl as he looks at the inventory form on his clipboard and sighs.

**Ah ha! I knew you used those tissues! :P**  
 **But that was very thoughtful of Aurelan.**  
 **I never took you for a poetry fan. You have hidden depths. ;)**  
 **Kilts are NOT skirts, as I'm sure your grandpa told you.**  
 **We're Irish on my father's side, but he loved bagpipes. :/**  
 **He took us to the highland games in Stone Mountain a few times when I was a kid.**  
 **In retrospect, the amount of time I spent trying to look under men's kilts should've been a clue. ;)**  
 **A man in a kilt, t-shirt and boots gets me every time.**  
 **Please tell me you have t-shirts and boots. ;)**  
 **Unfortunately, we need to do inventory tonight so I won't be home until 9:30 at the earliest. :(**  
 **Just relax and get some sleep and, if nothing else, we'll see each other in 3 days, 1 hour and 6 minutes. :D**  
 **Not that I'm counting. ;)**

He decides to cut his break short and do a quick count of the customized mugs and t-shirts in stock. Maybe if he can get this out of the way, inventory will go faster and he'll have time to Skype with Jim after all.

\---

A little after seven o’clock and he's already sent Gemma home, so he has to take over her station when they suddenly get a wave of customers. Of course, he gets another text from Jim at almost the exact moment, but can’t stop to check his phone. Frustrated, he finally reads Jim’s message half an hour later.

***Makes plans to polish 10-eye Docs, iron t-shirt and get kilt dry cleaned.***  
 **I'm man enough to admit I cried, though not as much as I did when Boromir died. *g***  
 **As much as Grandpa Tiberius (never "Ti") loves his Scottish heritage, he hates bagpipes.**  
 **He says I'm lucky I can't hear them. *g***  
 **You can look up my kilt or plumb my depths any time. *innocent***  
 **Sorry about inventory, that's no fun.**  
 **Not sure if I'll make it to 9:30, tbh. *sadface***  
 **I'll let you know if I get a second wind and hope to see you online tonight.**  
 **2 days, 22 hours and 58 minutes!**

Casting a baleful glance at the paperwork he needs to finish, Leonard resigns himself to another Jim-less evening.

**Seems it'll take forever to plumb the depth of your geekiness. ;)**   
**And kilts are appropriate for any occasion: even dinner dates. *hint***   
**As long as you wear it "properly."**   
**Just get some sleep and don't worry about chatting tonight.**   
**It's been a long weekend and you've got a long rest of the week ahead.**   
**Though it already seems like it's years away, I'll see you in**   
**2 days, 22 hours and 42 minutes! :D**

Once all the day's managerial tasks are completed, Leonard heads out front to help Geoff. Since they only keep a small amount of beans in stock at any time, inventory needs to be done twice weekly; Geoff usually was happy to help out, but began avoiding it when he and Sarah started dating. Leonard finally can't keep himself from asking about her and the status of their relationship. Geoff explains that they've decided to spend some time apart and chuckles at Leonard's expression of sympathy.

He's not sure if he should be offended or not when Geoff adds, "It's OK, Leonard, I know you guys aren't her biggest fans." Before Leonard can say anything, the other man continues, "I don't blame you." Leonard looks skeptical. "Honestly, I don't. Sarah's a good person, but she's also pretty brash and can come off as obnoxious."

Leonard nods. "Well, I will admit she seemed a little over-the-top at times and you're such a laid-back guy... But I'm still sorry things aren't working out; that's never fun."

"Canopy of Heaven: twenty-eight pounds, three ounces," Geoff calls out and Leonard notes it on the inventory sheet. "No, it isn't, but I think we've run our course." He pauses as he picks up the next canister of beans and heads for the scale. "Besides, as much as I care for her, Sarah's got more issues than _National Geographic_ "

Leonard gives a surprised bark of laughter as Geoff says, "Did I ever tell you that, before we started dating, her mother sent me a Facebook email and asked if I was sure I wanted to go out with her daughter?" Looking over his shoulder, Leonard goggles at the other man. "Yeah...I definitely can't say I didn't go into the relationship with my eyes wide open." He looks at the scale. "Greater Alarm: nineteen pounds, twelve ounces."

Putting the container back and reaching for the next one, he continues, "But she was a huge support when Mom got sick last year, so I'll always care for her even if she is kinda crazy." This time, Geoff joins Leonard's laughter as they continue to weigh and record inventory.

Leonard remembers the hell Geoff went through when his mother was hospitalized with hepatitis. It seemed all of Geoff's time was spent fighting with insurance companies and jumping through hoops to makes sure his mother got the treatment she needed. When the two men first met at USF, Geoff was still unsure of what he wanted to do once he finished his degree. By the time his mother was fully recovered, he'd decided to study public health policy and Leonard knows patients and their families will have no better advocate.

He feels bad for thinking ill of Sarah based on only a few brief meetings and is trying to figure out what to say when his phone buzzes. Because he'd set it on the counter, it clatters loudly as the vibrations make it slide along the wooden surface and he slaps his hand down on it to keep it from falling to the floor.

Geoff says, "Don't keep Jim waiting. I need to use the restroom anyway, so take your time," before he heads to the back as Leonard reads the message.

**I hate to say it, but I'm fading fast. *sigh***  
 **Sorry!**  
 **And I need to be back at Parn in less than 10 hours.**  
 **Sometimes I really hate my job.**  
 **Maybe tomorrow?**  
 **Hope inventory is going well and if I don't talk to you tonight, we'll talk tomorrow.**  
 **And I'll SEE you in 2 days, 22 hours and 7 minutes! *g***

Leonard groans in frustration but tries to keep his tone upbeat.

**Don't apologize – I'm surprised you've stayed awake this long!**   
**Sorry you've got such a tough week, but just keep thinking about Friday.**   
**God knows that's what's keeping me going this week. ;)**   
**Sleep well and I'll definitely talk to you tomorrow. :)**   
**Sweet dreams!**

Geoff returns just as he's sending the message. He's not aware of sighing until Geoff asks if there's anything wrong. Leonard explains the situation with Jim's crazy work schedule this week and the two men commiserate as they resume their bean counting.


	17. Day Seventeen: Wednesday

Leonard leaves for work early so he can have a few minutes with Geoff before Christine is due in. While they were doing inventory last night, the two of them had speculated on how she might behave and how they should act around her, finally deciding to just try and treat her as if it's just any other day. 

Fortunately, Geoff is also there early, so they briefly rehash the subject and take a moment to give Edith a heads up that Christine might be a little...delicate today. The three of them have just finished their quick chat when the subject of their discussion arrives, looking tired and pale.

As Leonard studies her, he notices the circles under her bloodshot eyes and the wan smile she gives him when he asks if she's feeling better. Her voice is clear with no sign of congestion or scratchiness when she responds with a quiet "Much better, Leonard. Thanks for asking."

_"Just a cold" my ass._

He just nods and reminds her that she can go early if she begins to feel ill again and he swears she looks as if she's going to burst into tears before she smiles her thanks and heads to the break room to put her things away. Geoff moves as if he intends to follow her to the back, but Leonard puts a hand on his arm, stopping him with a shake of his head. They share a look for a moment before Geoff gives a curt nod, turning away and heading back to his station just as Christine returns and begins setting up her own work area.

\---

Throughout the morning, Leonard surreptitiously keeps an eye on Christine, noting how she's courteous as always, but doesn't chat with the customers the way she normally would and that her smile is as dull as her eyes. He and Geoff exchange looks, neither of them sure whether doing something would make the situation better or worse. In the midst of the ongoing work drama, he and Jim only text once, both of them complaining about how busy the day is already and how Friday seems an eternity away.

When Leonard tells Christine it's time for her break, she tries to beg off but he insists and she finally retreats to the break room, head hung low. Geoff stares hard at him for a moment and Leonard finally heaves a sigh and tells Geoff and Edith he'll be right back.

Opening the door slowly, he sees Christine sitting at the little table in the corner, head resting on her crossed arms. He listens for a moment, but hears nothing but her unsteady breathing. She must notice the quiet sound of the door closing, since her head shoots up and she scrubs her eyes with her hands before looking over her shoulder at him.

"Christine?" He approaches her slowly, uncertain if he's crossing the line between being supportive and being nosy, but he just can't stand to see her looking so _defeated_. She looks away from him and stares at the workplace safety poster on the corkboard by the lockers, blinking quickly.

Pulling up a chair, he sits down next to her and carefully rests his hand on her shoulder. "Are you OK?" He swears he can hear her swallow as she gives a little shrug and continues to look everywhere but at him. What should he do now? Leave? Remind her that he's here if she wants to talk? Ask her directly? Pretend nothing's wrong?

His stomach is churning with worry and doubt, but he can't just walk away or sit here and pretend his friend isn't miserable. "You know you can tell me to fuck off if I'm prying, and I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but..." He takes a deep breath. "Christine, does this have anything to do with Roger?" He's _this close_ to adding "the Asshole" after his name, it's become such a habit over the years. She finally turns her head and looks at him directly, her eyes wide and full of pain. Biting her lips, she nods once and then suddenly there are tears running down her cheeks.

"Oh, sweetheart." Without thinking, he turns where he's sitting and opens his arms to her. She presses her face against his shoulder and wraps her arms around his waist, fingers clutching at his shirt. He hugs her back, one hand rubbing up and down her spine, the other resting on the back of her head while he feels her body shake as she cries quietly.

He doesn't know how long they sit there, but at some point Geoff opens the door sticks his head in, his eyes meeting Leonard's over Christine's still-heaving shoulders. "Things OK?" Leonard mouths. Geoff nods and stares sadly at their weeping friend for a moment before grimacing and closing the door. 

Eventually, Christine's sobs quiet and without prompting she lays out the whole sordid tale. He feels his blood pressure climb as she tells him how Roger (the asshole) finally admitted what Christine had suspected for months: he'd been having an affair. Though he didn't see it as that and couldn't understand why his faithful-for-three-years girlfriend was so upset. After all, he explained, they live 3,000 miles apart and he's a man and "men have needs."

"He actually _said_ that?!" Leonard can't help but shout at just how insensitive, not to mention clichéd, the phrase is. Christine just nods sadly and tells him that Roger went on to explain that the woman he's currently seeing isn't the first and that he'd been cheating almost since the day he moved to Cambridge.

And if Leonard wasn't ready to punch the son of a bitch already, he certainly is now. His anger only intensifies as he listens to Christine browbeat herself for being so blind to Roger's innumerable faults. He puts her hands on her arms and gently pushes her away far enough so he can look into her eyes.

"This is _not_ your fault." She shakes her head and tightens his grip just enough to get her attention again. "You did nothing wrong and have no reason to blame yourself." She still looks doubtful and he keeps staring at her, hoping she'll see the truth of what he's saying in his eyes. "You loved him, trusted him, and he lied to you. The blame lies with him and him alone."

Christine's expression eases, and while she doesn't look convinced, she at least doesn't look quite so downtrodden and sad. He gets up and goes over to the sink, wetting a paper towel and wringing it out before bringing it over to her. "Put this over your eyes for a few minutes, it'll help."

"I should really get back to work..." She begins to stand up, but Leonard gently rests his hand on her shoulder and she sits back down.

"Don't even worry about it. Just take a few minutes and we can handle everything until you're ready." She smiles at him and stands up despite his hand still on her shoulder.

Giving him a hug, she leans her face on the same spot on his shoulder she'd cried on earlier and pulls back abruptly, making a face. "Oh, God, I totally soaked your shirt." She steps over to the counter and grabs several paper towels and presses them against his shirt in an attempt to dry it.

He takes the wad of towels from her and steps away. "It's fine, honestly." He pulls the towels away and folds them, pressing the dry side back against his shirt. "I'm just lucky you didn't wear mascara today." He grins at her and is pleased to hear her watery chuckle in return. "Take your time and if you need to go home, Gemma said she'd be available today."

She shakes her head and stands up. He watches in pleasure as her back and shoulders straighten, her head held higher than he's seen it all day. "No, I've wasted enough time on that bastard. Another day spent at home moping isn't going to make him less the asshole you all knew he was." 

Leonard's eyes widen in alarm and Christine just smirks. "Please, I know you've been calling him that for years. I never bothered to call you on it, probably because deep down I knew you were right." Her tone is bitter and he rushes to cut her off before she can start berating herself again. 

"It was wrong of us and I'm sorry." He can tell she's going to brush off his apology, so he continues before she can speak. "No matter what, you loved him and as your friends, we didn't respect that like we should have."

She grins. "Even if you were right?"

Laughing, Leonard nods. "Even if we were right. Though I wish to hell we were wrong."

Standing up on her toes, she presses a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Leonard."

"Any time." He points at the chair. "Now, take your time and I'll see you out front whenever you're ready, OK?" She nods and he tosses the damp paper towels in the trash as he gives her one more look and says, "You're going to be fine." He smiles. "Hell, you're gonna be amazing, Christine."

Her eyes are still red and don't have their usual sparkle, but he swears he can actually _see_ her self-confidence beginning to return as she smiles back at him. "Damn straight I am, Leonard."

\---

The next several hours go by smoothly and Leonard is heartened to see Christine gradually returning to her usual self. He tries not to speculate when he notices her and Geoff chatting quietly whenever there's a lull, but the two of them really would be so damned good together.

_Jesus, I'm not Bubbeh Hannah, I'm Dolly Levi._

When his mother shows up for their Wednesday lunch date, he's relieved she didn't bring something with her this time so they have an excuse to eat somewhere other than the tables directly outside the shop. Over salads at the cafe next door, he tells Mama about his morning and she is in turns proud of Leonard and furious for Christine.

He expounds on his theory that everybody has to endure at least one crappy relationship and she shares the story of her college boyfriend Sukesh who was handsome and charming on the surface, but dismissed young Ella Greenberg's ambition to be a research scientist because she was a woman.

It took her a few months to finally realize what a misogynistic cretin he was, and when she dumped him, he immediately began spreading tales around the school about her. She got her own back, however, by posting flyers all over the Dartmouth campus reading "Three years of anatomy and Sukesh Mukherjee still doesn't know where the clitoris is."

Leonard chokes on his iced tea as his mother grins like the Cheshire Cat. "Please tell me you didn't really do that." She just nods and tells him about how Sukesh actually threatened to sue her for slander. She first explained that he'd actually want to sue for libel since it’s written whereas slander is spoken, then she dared him to go ahead and do it.

Of course he never sued, but he did stop spreading rumors about her and the rest of her dating history was much happier. Leonard begs her not to go into detail and she acquiesces, but she wraps up her story by telling him that, according to her class's 10th anniversary alumni report, Dr. Mukherjee had become a successful proctologist.

The two of them laugh as his mother repeatedly swears she is _not_ making that up and even promises to show him the proof later. He assures her that he believes her and, as their laughter subsides, they return to their lunch. She asks him about Jim and he happily shares a few of the tamer details he's learned from their continued text messages over the last few days, all thoughts of disastrous relationships banished.

\---

After lunch, Leonard isn't surprised to see that there are no new messages from Jim since he had warned him that the IT team was going to be doing programming fixes (whatever those are) all day and he probably wouldn't be able to text much.

Figuring it might cheer Jim up, Leonard sends him a very brief version of Mama's story about shaming her asshole ex-boyfriend. He adds a quick message wishing Jim an easy afternoon and reminds him that their dinner is now only two days, three hours and thirty-nine minutes away before slipping the phone in his pocket and heading back to the store.

Once he's cleaned up, sent Edith off for her break, and resumed his spot behind the cash register, he sets his phone on the counter and quickly notes that they now have two days, three hours and thirteen minutes until their date.

_I was right: this is the longest week in the history of time._

\--- 

It's almost two hours later before Jim responds.

**Sorry for the late reply!**  
 **We were in a sub-sub-basement for most of the day with no reception.**  
 **We won't be there tomorrow, thank God.**  
 **I think I love your mother already! *g***  
 **I'm sorry she dated such a creep, but she may have delivered the Best Smackdown Ever.**  
 **Waiting for the shuttle and happier than words can express that this day is over.**  
 **Tomorrow should be a little bit better.**  
 **Little teeny weeny tiny itty bitty bit better. *g***  
 **Speaking of better, how's Christine?**  
 **I meant to ask earlier but forgot.**  
 **Blame sleep deprivation.**  
 **T-minus 2 days, 1 hour and 38 minutes!**

Leonard quickly looks around the shop to see that there's nobody in line and Geoff and Christine are chatting again. Holding the phone below the counter, just in case, he composes his reply.

**No apology necessary. I know you're having a rough week. :/**  
 **Yeah, Mama's a great woman and she's looking forward to meeting you.**  
 **Still not sure I needed to know quite that much about her sex life, though. ;)**  
 **She never really talked about her dating life before she married my father.**  
 **But it's good to know her bad relationship is behind her.**  
 **Christine is sad, but she'll be OK.**  
 **Her now-ex-boyfriend is a horrible person and she's much better off without him.**  
 **I don't know if she believes that now, but she will.**  
 **Her friends will make sure of that. :D**  
 **Hope you didn't have to wait long for the shuttle.**  
 **I should be home by 9, but don't try to stay awake on my account.**  
 **You've got another long day tomorrow. :(**  
 **See you in 2 days, 1 hour and 22 minutes! :)**

Suppressing the irrational urge to include seconds in his countdown, he sends the text just in time to cash out a customer and get started on the last two hours and thirty-seven minutes of his workday.

\---

Other than a rare evening rush of customers around six-thirty, the evening is slow. It's getting close to seven and he's tempted to send Christine home early, but she and Geoff are spending every free minute chatting and he doesn't want to interfere. Rolling his eyes as his matchmaking impulses, he focuses instead on the text Jim had sent earlier.

**The sun is still out and I'm ready to go to bed this minute.**  
 **How wrong is that?**  
 **Right now, I feel more like 122 than 22. *yawns***  
 **I look forward to meeting your mama, too.**  
 **Please tell me there are embarrassing baby pics of you on a bearskin rug. *g***  
 **I'm sorry that Christine's having such a hard time.**  
 **She seems like such a nice person and doesn't deserve to be treated like that.**  
 **Guys like that make me want to apologize on behalf of all men.**  
 **It's amazing how smart people can so stupid when it comes to romance.**  
 **Mom's brilliant, but you wouldn't know it based on the jerks she dated.**  
 **But that's an email story.**  
 **I'm going to try to stay awake, but make no promises.**  
 **Sorry! *sigh***  
 **1 day, 23 hours and 51 minutes!**

As always when Jim mentions his mother, Leonard's curiosity is piqued. He suddenly realizes he doesn't know what Jim's mother does or even what her first name is. It's obvious Jim loves his mother and is proud of her, but it seems that "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship.

It's only been eight days since they last saw each other in person and three since they Skyped, but it feels like forever since he's laid eyes on Jim in anything other than a picture.

**You're working crazy hours, so you should get as much sleep as you can.**  
 **I'm surprised you haven't zonked out on the shuttle, frankly.**  
 **You're probably waking up when it's still dark, so going to sleep when it's still light makes sense, right? ;)**  
 **I was an adorable baby, if I do say so myself.**  
 **And I do. ;P**  
 **But once Mama starts showing off my baby pictures, she's impossible to stop.**  
 **Consider yourself warned. ;)**  
 **Christine will be fine, but I guess we're all idiots when it comes to love. :/**  
 **At least she's wised up, like your mom did.**  
 **It'll be 9 before I'm home, so just get some sleep.**  
 **Besides, we'll be seeing each other day after tomorrow. :D**  
 **1 day, 23 hours and 44 minutes, to be exact.**

After sending the message, Leonard fills out paperwork as Geoff and Christine clean up. There are only a few more customers, so he sends them home at eight o'clock sharp and is able to follow not to long after. 

Leonard's on the bus home when Jim texts again.

**Of course you were an adorable baby!**  
 **Your good looks didn't just spring out of nowhere. *g***  
 **"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,**  
 **and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."**  
 **I'm not sure if the Bard meant love was a good thing or a mental illness...**  
 **I hope Christine finds a good guy once she's over this jerk.**  
 **Almost fell asleep standing up in the shower, so I think I'm going to have to call it a night.**  
 **Sorry again, but I'll SEE you in 1 day, 22 hours and 21 minutes!**

Checking the time, Leonard decides not to reply and risk waking Jim when he's just gotten started on some much-needed sleep. He tips his head back to gently thunk against the handbar on the back of his seat and groans in frustration. He knows Jim's exhausted, but not being able to see Jim in any way has driven him past pleasurable anticipation, past frustration and right into annoyance. It's not anybody's fault (except maybe Jim's employer), but if his life was a book, he'd be flipping ahead to get to the good stuff.

Unfortunately, this is real life and all he can do is keep counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until they'll see each other again. Since he can't make the clock move any faster, he comforts himself with the knowledge that when they finally meet, it'll be worth the wait and spends the rest of his evening indulging in speculation as to what that "good stuff" will entail.


	18. Day Eighteen: Thursday

Leonard's morning creeps by as all the others had this week: the usual weekday grind (no pun intended) interspersed with a few text exchanges with Jim, each ending with a countdown reminding both men their date tomorrow is only a day away.

 _God, I fucking hate that song._

Fortunately, Christine is a little better today, but she'll be fragile for a while to come as she works on recovering from Roger's betrayal (the asshole). She and Geoff still spend every free moment chatting, and Leonard can't help but hope this means better things to come for both of them.

Jim's lunch hour happens to coincide with his first break and they're able to use mobile IM to chat for several minutes. They have two more text exchanges over the next couple of hours and just before Leonard's due to leave for lunch, he gets a text that piques his curiosity.

**Just sent you an email to read at your leisure. *g***

He recalls Jim's brief references to various childhood problems and how they could only be described via email. Distractedly, he quickly finishes with another customer before putting Geoff on cash register duty and heading back to grab his tablet out his locker. 

After settling in at a table outside the shop with his salad, he checks his email to see one from Jim entitled "The Story of Jim Kirk – So Far." Opening the message, he takes a sip of tea to wet his suddenly dry mouth, wondering about what tales Jim has decided to share with him.

For the next half hour, Leonard reads in horrified fascination as Jim lays out a story that is so unbelievable it has to be true.

It revolves around his mother's ex-boyfriend, Frank, who said and did all the right things, unlike the men she'd dated previously. Twelve-year-old Jim and his big brother Sam quickly came to like Frank and it wasn't long before they started to consider him as a potential father.

Then, two months after Frank entered their lives and four years after Jim had gotten his mother to agree that he would no longer communicate in anything but sign language, she suddenly began urging him to return to the hated practice of lip reading and speaking. Soon, the two were fighting almost constantly.

Then things began disappearing from the house.

At first, it was just the occasional trinket from Mrs. Kirk's jewelry box, but more valuable items quickly started vanishing. Despite his heartfelt denials, Jim's mother thought Jim was acting out by stealing from her because of their frequent conflicts, but she never went so far as to tell anyone other than Sam and Frank. Sam also believed Jim was guilty, constantly urging his little brother to tell him where he was hiding the loot. Soon, Jim was contiunously at odds with his mother and brother. The only person who told Jim he believed him was Frank.

Of course, that was because Frank knew who the real guilty party was.

After several months of conflict and misery, things came to a head when Jim's mother, a large animal vet, left her sons in Frank's care while she visited a farm several towns away. That day, Sam happened to overhear Frank on the phone bragging about how he'd been able to steal thousands of dollars in valuables from the Kirk household and pin it all on Jim. His plan was to continue to lift various small objects until finally making off with the big prize: a '68 Corvette that had been George Kirk's most prized possession and, other than the house, was the only item to be mentioned in his will.

Once he'd stolen and fenced the car, Frank would be free to move on to his next con while Jim was left to deal with the fallout. Terrified of Frank and guilty for not believing in his little brother, Sam wanted to run. Furious, Jim wanted to fight.

Determined to keep Frank from claiming his prize, Jim took the Corvette intending to drive to the farm where his mother was working and tell her the whole sordid story. A local Highway Patrol officer put the kibosh on that plan. One high-speed chase and several wrong turns later, Jim was hurtling towards an abandoned quarry. Quick thinking and a desperate leap were the only things that kept him from following the car over the edge.

Frank pretended to be worried when he picked Jim up from the police station, but by the time he got the boy home, he was in a rage over Jim ruining his plans. He was going so fast that even Jim's well-developed lip reading skills couldn't keep up. In the midst of his screaming fit, Jim's mother returned home after getting the call from the police. She took in the sight of her boyfriend hurling invective at her youngest son and promptly punched Frank so hard she broke several of his teeth.

Taking Jim back to the police station, she filed a report against Frank - as well as another about Sam, who had run away, though he was found hitchhiking a few hours later. Shocked to the core over what Jim had done and the knowledge that she almost lost her baby boy, Jim's mother finally got the help she'd needed since her husband died.

But while she was getting better, Jim was getting worse.

Even though many of the items Frank had stolen were eventually recovered, they never saw Frank again or found out what happened to him. But the damage he had done to the Kirk family seemed irrepairable.

Feeling understandably betrayed by his own family, Jim gave up his well-behaved ways and soon became the petty thief he'd been suspected of being. He discovered girls. And boys. Started drinking, smoking and trying "other substances." Soon, his usual straight A's had vanished and he dropped out of school the day he turned sixteen.

By then, he'd already earned two brief stays in juvenile detention. And by the time he turned eighteen, he'd added a few more, as well as accumulated an impressive list of misdemeanors that promised he'd become the only "genius-level repeat offender in the midwest," as his future stepfather once told him. 

It was Chris who helped Jim stop his downward spiral, driving all over Iowa to bail Jim out or haul his drunk, underage ass out of bar fights. With Chris acting as a much-needed buffer between Jim and his mother - and sometimes Jim and his brother - things got better. After years of hard work, the family finally healed the breaks between them, becoming "strong in the broken places." Jim cleaned up his act, earning his GED, his pilot's license, his Associate's degree and his acceptance letter to UC Davis in just three years.

As Leonard reaches the end of Jim's story, he shakes his head in wonder at Jim's resilience as he reads his closing words.

**For the most part, I had a really good, loving, secure childhood. Yes, there were bad times, but they didn't last. They made me who I am and brought me to a point in my life where I'm living in a wonderful city, going to a great school and getting to study a subject I love.**

**And it brought me to you, so how could I regret any of it?**

**So that's The Story of Jim Kirk so far. Hope it hasn't bored you to tears or scared you off. Something tells me the next chapter is going to be the best yet. *g***

Leaning back in his chair, Leonard straightens up from where he'd been hunched over the tablet as he read. He notices that his hands are cramped from where they'd been gripping the tablet, his mouth is dry and throat rough. His salad remains on the table, untouched, but his stomach is churning so much that just the thought of food makes him feel vaguely nauseous.

Finally setting the tablet down, he scrubs his hands over his face, not surprised to feel a little dampness as he rubs his eyes. He knew from their earlier conversations that Jim had had a rough childhood, but the extent of what he'd had to deal with stuns and horrifies Leonard. The way Jim had gone out of his way to defend his mother was both sweet and sad, since he's right: Leonard's first instinct is to judge Mrs. Kirk harshly for how she'd treated her youngest son. 

But Jim knows best how hard it was for a young widow with a three-year-old and a newborn to deal with, and he can't blame her for wanting to make Jim's life easier, even if it unintentionally made it harder in retrospect. Coming to know Jim as he has, he's amazed at the other man's strength. He's already found himself impressed at how well Jim deals with being a deaf man in a hearing world, but after reading about all he's experienced, Leonard truly is in awe.

He still has twenty minutes left of his lunch hour and he wants to respond before he has to go back to work. He's touched that Jim has chosen to share such important and painful memories with him and feels he owes it to Jim to acknowledge that.

It seems like he types and deletes thousands of words, trying to find just the right tone. He wants to treat Jim's email with the seriousness it deserves, but he also wants to avoid being maudlin. Jim had peppered his story with flashes of humor, and Leonard tries to keep that in mind as he types. The message he ends up with doesn't seem like it took almost fifteen minutes to write, but he honestly can't think of anything else to say.

**You definitely didn't bore me!**  
 **Terrify me, yes. Bore me, no. ;)**  
 **If you wrote that in a movie script, they'd never believe it.**  
 **Seriously, thank you for sharing all that with me.**  
 **I hope it wasn't hard to do and I appreciate it SO much that you took the time to tell the story.**  
 **Is it wrong of me to hope Frank is rotting in jail right now?**  
 **I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating: you are an amazing person.**  
 **After what you've gone through, you deserve to have nothing but good chapters in the book of your life from here on out.**  
 **I'm so happy to be a character in your story.**  
 **I can't wait to see what the next chapters bring!**  
 **Especially the one that starts in 1 day, 2 hours and 47 minutes. :D**

Leonard hasn't been this nervous about sending Jim a text since their first exchange. He's surprised to realize that was just last week; it already feels like he's known Jim forever. Once the message is on its way, he cleans up the table and puts his salad back in the refrigerator. Jim's email has both his head and his stomach churning as he envisions young Jim struggling to find acceptance within his family and in the world at large. Leonard's palms sweat thinking about how desperate Jim was to prove his innocence to his mother that he stole a car and ended up driving it over a cliff (Jesus!) instead of letting Frank steal it.

Getting back to the regular routine of work is enough to calm his racing mind somewhat, but he knows his interactions with customers and his coworkers are distracted since he can't help thinking about Jim's email. He aches with the need to see Jim, healthy and whole, but comforts himself with the knowledge that he'll get his wish in one day, two hours and six minutes.

\---

As late afternoon becomes evening, there aren't enough customers to keep Leonard occupied so he unabashedly watches the clock and wishes Jim would reply to his last text, wishes his workday was over, wishes it was Friday already, damn it.

He's checking his phone again to get the exact time (the wall clock is a good 90 seconds slow), when it buzzes. It startles him so much he flinches, and he can hear Geoff snickering somewhere behind him. A quick glance around assures him there are no customers nearby, so he flips Geoff off over his shoulder with his left hand while opening Jim's text with his right.

**My life is already the stuff of legend. *g***  
 **Like you and Jocelyn, it's not a fun story, but it's not hard to tell.**  
 **Scout's honor. (And I really was a Boy Scout, so you know I'm not lying.)**  
 **Since it's such a long and complex story to tell, I wanted to get it out there before our date.**  
 **In 1 day and 13 minutes. *cheers***  
 **As my Grandma Jean would say: I hope Frank is reaping what he's sown.**  
 **If that means a couple broken kneecaps, so much the better. *g***  
 **If you're a character in my story, does that mean I'm a character in yours, too?**  
 **Either way, I desperately want to read ahead, but I can control myself for another 1 day and 11 minutes.**  
 **After that, I make no promises. *wink***

_Don't control yourself on my account, kid._

Leonard's so lost in thoughts of losing control with Jim that it takes him a moment to realize there's a customer waiting to pay. With an apology, he rings up the sale as Edith stops by to bid him goodnight before she makes her way to the door. When reaches the door, she stops to loudly wish him good luck with his date with Jim tomorrow, making sure the few customers in the shop can hear her clearly. Her grin is deceptively innocent as Leonard glares at her and Christine and Geoff giggle at his discomfort. She flutters her fingers in a little wave, and he gives her a far less friendly gesture in return, making her laugh as she heads outside.

Even though he knows she meant nothing by it, Edith's comment makes Leonard self-conscious, so even though his phone buzzes, he doesn't check his messages again until the shop is empty and there's nothing for him to do until closing.

**Work tomorrow will be good news/bad news.**  
 **Good: we're going to be so busy they're already planning to buy us pizza since we'll have to work through lunch.**  
 **Bad: we'll be in the bowels of the Parn building with no cell reception. *pout***  
 **More than the free lunch, I'm looking forward to the having so much to do I won't have time to watch the clock.**  
 **Is it just me, or has time suddenly slowed to a glacial pace?**  
 **I swear entire universes have been born, expanded and died since Monday. *g***  
 **But at least time has advanced enough for me to be able to say I'll see you in:**  
 **23 hours and 57 minutes!**

After checking the clock just to make sure, Leonard feels unreasonably happy at the realization that his and Jim's date is officially less than one day away. Even though he's glad his work week is almost over, he envies Jim the distraction of work tomorrow. It's been hard enough getting through the day even though there's usually been enough to do to keep him busy. With nothing but a few errands on his to-do list tomorrow, he's almost dreading trying to keep himself occupied until six o’clock.

After cashing out another few customers, the shop is empty again and he knows he should send Christine or Geoff home. But when he looks over at Geoff's station, he sees the two of them having an intense yet quiet conversation, so he decides to leave them alone for the time being and sits down behind the register to reply.

**I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only one who thinks time has almost come to a stop.**  
 **It's like the entire world is moving in slo-mo.**  
 **Now I need to figure out what I'm going to do with myself all day tomorrow.**  
 **Any suggestions? ;)**  
 **A free lunch is always a good thing. A free pizza lunch is even better. :)**  
 **But the meal I'm looking forward to is dinner.**  
 **In 23 hours and 32 minutes. :D**

When he looks over again, Geoff has two customers at his station and Christine is cleaning up. While she looks much better than she had just yesterday, it's clear it will be a while before she's fully back to her happy, confident self. He tries not to be too obviously pleased when she tells him that she and Geoff have plans to meet up over the weekend. Matchmaking ambitions aside, he's just happy to know she won't be alone to wallow.

She gives him a hug and a kiss, cheekily demanding a full report when they come back on Monday, then wishes him and Geoff a good night and heads out. As soon as Christine is out the door, the two men start discussing how she's doing and what they can do to help her in the days and weeks ahead.

They're interrupted when Leonard gets another text, and Geoff waves off Leonard's apology as he takes out his phone.

**I have several suggestions about what you can do with yourself, but I'd much rather do them with you myself. *bats eyes***  
 **While the rest of the world is moving at half speed, my body apparently is not.**  
 **I actually fell asleep on the shuttle home, which is why I texted so late.**  
 **If the driver hadn't woken me up, I might still be on it driving around the city. *g***  
 **Feels like all I'm doing is sleeping and working and I hate that we haven't had time for even one Skype session. *sadface***  
 **I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow, though!**  
 **Starting in 23 hours and 14 minutes. *g***

Leonard's face flushes as he wonders just what things, exactly, Jim wants to do with him. The sound of Geoff cleaning up in the background is enough to remind Leonard that now is not the time or place to be following that train of thought any further, so he focuses on his reply.

**Trust me, I'd much rather do things with you than do them with myself. ;)**  
 **You'll have to tell me if the things you want to do with me are the same as what I want to do with you.**  
 **Like going to the movies and sightseeing, right? *innocent***  
 **Don't worry about anything but getting as much sleep as you can.**  
 **I promise you're going to need it. ;D**  
 **And I also promise I'm holding you to your promise.**  
 **So sleep well, sweet dreams, and I'll see you in**  
 **23 hours and 9 minutes!**

There are only have a few more customers, so Leonard and Geoff are both able to leave not long after they close at eight o'clock. Geoff wishes him luck on his date with Jim and asks Leonard not to share any of the "gory details" come Monday. Laughing, Leonard readily agrees before the two head to their respective bus stops.

Leonard lets his mind wander on the ride home and is surprised by a text from Jim when his stop is only a few blocks away.

**Just about to turn out the lights, but I thought you should know what I want to do with you.**

Holding his breath, he grips the phone with both hands, staring fixedly at the screen as he waits. He doesn't notice the bus fly past his stop just as the text alert chimes and a single word appears.

**Everything.**


	19. Day Nineteen: Friday

Leonard shuffles sideways through the door between the garage and kitchen, half a dozen canvas shopping bags clutched in his hands and hanging from the crooks of his elbows. His rapidly-numbing fingers make him question the wisdom of his decision to carry everything at once instead of making two trips, but it's too late to turn back now. With a groan, he sets the bags on the counter and has to lunge forward to keep a few tomatoes from rolling to the floor.

As he begins the process of putting away the household supplies and setting out the groceries, he thinks back to the previous night.

He'd been so surprised and excited by Jim's text that he was almost half a mile from home before he realized the bus had passed his stop. Of course, he got off the bus just in time to watch the one heading in the opposite direction zoom by, so he decided it was faster to just walk home. He didn't mind the cold, foggy weather and steep hills, his mind occupied with imagining just what doing "everything" with Jim might entail.

By the time he finally got home, his clothes and hair were damp and he headed straight for the shower to let the hot water and even hotter Jim-centric fantasies chase away the chill. 

Dressed and dry, he'd headed upstairs, the smell of his mother's cooking making his stomach growl and reminding him of his uneaten lunch. It also reminded him that he'd seriously been falling down on his half of the cooking and cleaning duties lately. Between his longer shifts, reading for school, studying Sign and chatting with Jim, he hadn't made a single meal all week.

When he'd tried to apologize, Mama brushed it off with a smile and wanted to talk about his and Jim's upcoming date instead. After dinner, she even went down to Leonard's room with him to help him pick out what to wear. In light of her breakup with Ken, he felt even worse that he was (hopefully) going to be gone all weekend, but she reassured him that she would be fine and even planned having some friends from work over on Friday for dinner.

That gave him an idea.

Between his father's Southern roots and his mother's Italian and Jewish heritage, Leonard had learned from an early age that there was only one way to properly express sympathy, support, gratitude and love.

Food.

After Mama had gone to bed, Leonard rifled through the recipe box until he'd found two of her favorites to make for her. Both were complicated and time-consuming, but he'd made them before and he knew what he was letting himself in for. He also knew they'd be a perfect way to keep him occupied for several hours so he wouldn't be sitting around doing nothing but watching the clock all day.

Now that everything's unpacked, he checks the time to see it's not yet ten, giving him at least seven hours to get everything done. He knows it'll be a challenge, so he does one more quick check to make sure nothing's missing, rolls up his sleeves and gets to cooking.

\---

Almost three hours later the bolognese is simmering away, filling the kitchen with the heady aromas that make his stomach growl. He's got the music on low in the background so he can hear what's going on in the saucepan currently on the stove. Judging by the sound of it, he'll need to add a little more wine and give the sauce a stir soon. Grandma Louisa was the one who taught him how a good cook always listens to the food and how it's possible to hear when a pot of vegetables has too little water long before you smell the burned broccoli.

But right now he's focused on portioning out the last of batter for the Medovik, knowing his grandfather would be proud he got exactly ten and a half layers out of the batch. Nine for inside the cake, one to be turned into crumbs and used to decorate the outside, and half for a "cook's treat."

Smoothing the batter in as perfect a circle as he can, Leonard thinks of the precision with which Grandpa Mendel approaches every cookie, cake and sweet treat he makes.

"Cooking is an art, Boychik. But baking, baking is a _science_."

He smiles as he places two pans with the last layers of cake into the oven and reminds himself to send an email to his grandparents soon. Daddy's death made him realize that he was taking his parents' and grandparents' presence in his life for granted and that they wouldn't be around forever. He's made it a point to email Grandma Louisa and Grandpa Mendel and Grandma Rose and Grandpa Horatio every week. But like his chores at home, he's fallen down on the job recently.

_It's all Jim's fault._

As if sensing Leonard's thoughts, his phone chimes and he chuckles.

**5 hours and 38 minutes!**  
 **They got pizza with pineapple on it for lunch.**  
 **Who the hell puts fruit on pizza?**  
 **I work with savages, Bones.**  
 **Savages!**  
 **5 hours and 37 minutes! *g***

Laughing, he quickly stirs the sauce and adds some more wine, checks the oven timer and sits down for the first time in hours so he can write a reply.

**Hate to tell you, but tomatoes are a fruit, too. ;)**  
 **Pizza wouldn't be pizza without some form of tomato.**  
 **But I agree that pineapple on pizza is wrong.**  
 **Great with sweet and sour pork, though.**  
 **Hope you got something to eat, since dinner isn't for another**  
 **5 hours and 30 minutes. :)**

Leonard takes a moment to stretch, double check the recipes and then gets started on the next task on his to do list.

\---

The next time Jim texts, Leonard's up to his elbows in soapy water as he cleans up the last of the mixing bowls and utensils. The sheets of fresh pasta he'd made have been boiled and cooled, the Bolognese and besciamella are done and cooling on the stove, the latter with a round of parchment paper on top to keep a skin from forming as it sits. 

He's pleasantly surprised at how well the Medovik turned out: pancake-thin honeyed layers flecked with nutmeg and cinnamon, all covered in honey buttercream. Not as good as Grandpa Mendel's, but damned close. It's sitting on a covered cake stand in the pantry to keep it from picking up any of the savory smells from the bolognese.

Once all the dishes are clean and dripping on the rack, he dries his hands and picks up the phone.

**I KNEW you were going to mention tomatoes.**  
 **As soon as I sent that, I thought "He's going to say tomatoes are a fruit."**  
 **Do I know you, or what? *g***  
 **Let's just say that anything widely accepted as a fruit is not acceptable on pizza and leave it at that.**  
 **I did get a couple slices of veggie pizza, but it had peppers and I'm not a fan.**  
 **But I am a fan of dinner.**  
 **In 2 hours and 31 minutes!**  
 **See what I did there? *g***

Leonard realizes it's almost 4:30 and is pleased his plan to distract himself with cooking has worked like a charm. He'll be ready to hit the shower by five o'clock, just as he'd hoped.

**Nice segue. Very subtle. ;)**  
 **I don't know if you know me that well or if I'm just that predictable. :)**  
 **Glad you got something to eat, at least.**  
 **I've been cooking and snacking all day, but I'll be plenty hungry in**  
 **2 hours and 19 minutes.**  
 **I may even want something to eat then, too. ;)**

Smirking, Leonard sends the text and turns his attention to assembling the lasagne: layering fresh pasta, bolognese, besciamella and freshly-grated Parmesano Reggiano until everything's been used up. With one last sprinkle of cheese, he covers the dish and leaves it on the counter. 

It's getting close to five, Mama will be home by six, and the lasagne still has to bake for a good forty-five minutes before it can be eaten. He's not about to let the chill of the refrigerator damage all the flavors he's spent the last seven hours creating.

_I'm all for safe food-handling practices, but there's no reason to be a damn fool about it._

After cleaning up, he sends a quick text to Mama telling her not to bother shopping for dinner tonight and then heads downstairs to finally get ready for his date.

\---

Nervous anticipation means that Leonard gets to the restaurant twenty minutes early, despite the care he took while showering and shaving. Jim had sent him another message just after five-thirty while Leonard was still in the shower telling him he was done with work and on the way home. Leonard replied just as he was leaving the house, practically giddy when he was able to tell Jim he'd be seeing him in forty-eight minutes.

While he was on the bus, Mama had texted to thank him for cooking and promised to save him some for when he got home on Sunday. Thankfully, she didn't include any motherly advice for his weekend, just a wish that he have fun and to say hi to Jim for her.

Once he arrives in Hayes Valley, Leonard spends his time wandering the neighborhood and people-watching. There are families and a few tourists along with groups of what he presumes are locals celebrating the end of the work week in one of the many bars and restaurants that fill every block.

He assumes most of the well-dressed people rushing past are theatergoers grabbing early meals before attending performances at the nearby symphony hall and opera house. He even spots a few musicians, instrument cases in tow, eating their pre-performance meals in a few of the more casual and less expensive restaurants he passes.

At six thirty-nine his phone rings:

**On my way!**

Grinning, Leonard turns around and heads back to the restaurant, scanning for Jim's familiar blond head. He's just reached the restaurant when he spots Jim coming around the corner across the street. It doesn't take long for Jim to spot him, and they both smile and wave at one another as Jim's pace quickens. Leonard is relieved that he and Jim both decided to go for the same level of dressy/casual: dark-washed jeans, dress shirts and suit jackets with no ties.

As Jim waits for the light to change to cross the street, he signs a quick greeting that Leonard returns. The moment the light turns green, Jim runs across the street and steps right up to Leonard, planting a firm kiss on his lips.

Leonard rests his hands on Jim's waist as he leans in for another kiss. He's contemplating asking Jim if they could just skip dinner altogether and go to Jim's place when he feels as much as hears Jim's stomach growl.

He leans back, laughing, as Jim gives him a sheepish look and signs an apology that Leonard quickly waves off. Reluctantly, he removes his hands from Jim's body so he can sign.

[[We should feed you.]]

Nodding, Jim takes his hand and leads them into the small restaurant. It's already crowded and he understands why Jim was so excited to be able to get them a reservation. As they approach the hostess's station, Leonard wonders if he should offer to talk to her or just let Jim handle it. Jim squeezes his hand and smiles at him as they wait and Leonard decides that Jim's able to make his way in the world just fine without help, so Leonard just smiles back and figures he'll let Jim handle it.

When they reach the podium the hostess seems to recognize Jim and they exchange brief waves before she holds up her hand, fingers spread, as she says, "Five minutes?" Jim nods and tugs on Leonard's hand to indicate they should step aside to wait.

Once they're out of the way, Leonard lets go of Jim's hand.

[[Are you a regular here?]]

Jim shakes his head.

[[No. I stopped in yesterday to make sure we could get a table and not the counter.]]

He gestures towards the long counter that seems to run almost the entire length of the restaurant and Leonard realizes how awkward it would be for them to converse if they ended up seated there side-by-side. Smiling, he looks back at Jim.

[[Good idea. Seems you thought of everything.]]

Jim's smile is as cocky as his blush is adorable.

[[I have it all planned out, Bones. Just follow my lead.]]

Leonard signs his agreement and lets Jim take his hand just as the hostess comes back to show them to their table.

Once they're seated, Jim asks if it's OK he order for the both of them; Leonard agrees readily and answers Jim's questions about food and drink preferences before placing the order with the server. It takes a little while as Jim uses a combination of pointing at the menu and writing on the notepad the server offers, but eventually she nods her understanding and leaves to get the bottle of wine Jim had ordered.

Jim smiles and his eyes widen as if he'd just remembered something.

[[I forgot to tell you Sam sent a picture.]]

He pulls out his phone, taping and swiping until he finds what he's looking for and then hands the phone to Leonard.

The screen shows a picture of Aurelan with her arms crossed over her chest and a very annoyed expression on her face. It takes a moment for Leonard to figure out the reason for her unhappiness and he throws his head back and laughs.

The form-fitting little black dress is beautiful, but it appears there's not a square inch of it that isn't covered in shiny, colorful confetti. There are even pieces stuck to Aurelan's arms and neck and Leonard can see from Jim's expression that he's regretting participating in the practical joke their families played on the newlyweds.

He starts to hand the phone back but Jim stops him.

[[Scroll down.]]

Leonard does and sees a single line of text accompanying the picture.

**Revenge is a dish best served cold.**

He's still laughing when he gives the phone back to Jim, who smiles as he shuts it down and puts it away. Turning back to Leonard, he gives him an exaggerated pout.

[[I'm a dead man, aren't I?]]

With a chuckle, Leonard just nods and Jim's pout becomes a smile.

[[Guess I should make the most of the time I have left.]]

Before Leonard can reply, the server returns with a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses. She shows the bottle to Jim, who gives her a nod, before opening the bottle and pouring a small amount for Jim to taste. He takes a sip, smiling his approval, before motioning for her to go ahead and serve them both. Once the wine is poured, Jim offers a toast.

[[To making the most of it.]]

\---

The bottle is almost finished and Leonard realizes they've spent last two hours speaking almost exclusively in Sign. They only had to use Jim's phone a few times, but otherwise Leonard was able to figure out the signs from context or Jim was able to explain them without resorting to typing. Using their hands to speak had the disadvantage of slowing down the meal, but considering how crowded the tiny restaurant is, using Sign was probably easier than shouting to be heard over the din of the other diners.

Leonard has long since lost track of the number of small plates they've shared. Unlike the Japanese restaurants he's visited before, this one doesn't serve sushi or ramen but more unusual fare like housemade pickles and savory custard and skewers of grilled meat and vegetables. Everything had been delicious. Even the skewer of grilled chicken skin – which Leonard thought Jim was crazy for ordering – turned out to be so good they almost got seconds.

As the meal is winding down, Jim cautions Leonard to save room for dessert but refuses to elaborate. When the last of the plates is clean and their wine glasses drained, Jim signals the server for the check and she hands it to Leonard with a knowing smile.

When Jim had gone to the restroom earlier, Leonard had called her over and given her his credit card. He knew Jim would balk at splitting the check, and he felt uncomfortable with the idea of Jim paying for what had turned out to be a rather expensive meal. Considering Jim has done the work of planning their evening, Leonard figures the least he can do is pay.

He's beginning to rethink his decision when he sees Jim frown.

[[I can afford it, Bones.]]

Jim's expression is hurt, his shoulders slumped, and Leonard drops the little folder holding the bill as he rushes to explain.

[[I know you can, Jim.]]

Jim just crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair, unconvinced.

[[Promise. You bought lunch last week and planned tonight. I just wanted to thank you.]]

Uncrossing his arms, Jim leans forward once more, his face more relaxed but still unhappy.

[[I wanted to plan tonight, Bones. It was my treat. And lunch cost a lot less than dinner.]]

Leonard feels like a fool for not considering how Jim would react to his gesture, as well-meant as it is. And his stomach churns when he realizes what Jim must think: that Leonard believes Jim needed his help. That's the furthest thing from the truth.

[[I know. I'm sorry. Very sorry. It was just to thank you. Nothing else.]]

Jim's frown is easing, though he still looks upset and Leonard frantically searches for something to say to get the smile back on Jim's face.

[[Part of it is from Janice]]

That seems to shake Jim out of his sour mood somewhat.

[[Your boss Janice?]]

Leonard nods and explains about the bet she, Geoff and Christine had going and how he'd insisted on a cut. When Jim presses him, he admits it was only twenty-five dollars – barely half the cost of the bottle of wine they'd shared – but, depending on what happens this weekend, Leonard stands to make a lot more.

The implication and the shy smile Leonard gives him finally has Jim smiling once more and Leonard relaxes.

Jim gives him a hard stare.

[[I leave the tip and you pay for nothing else this weekend. Deal?]]

Leonard readily agrees, relieved that Jim is no longer upset and thrilled at the idea that Jim expects them to spend the weekend together.

Crisis past, Jim grins again and between the two of them, they determine a generous tip in consideration of the extra time the server took to help them. Jim leaves the tip in cash, and tucks it into the leather billfold along with the signed credit card receipt.

Jim takes Leonard's hand once they're outside and the last of the tension leaves Leonard's body. Jim fingerspells his question one-handed so he can keep a grip on Leonard's hand.

[[Ice cream or bread pudding?]]

Leonard looks around at the foggy skies and hunches his shoulders against the chill. For good measure, he point at himself and fingerspells:

[[I'm from Georgia.]]

Jim's shoulders shake with a silent chuckle.

[[Bread pudding this way.]]

Giving Leonard's hand a tug, he leads them across the street and down half a block to a little shop boasting more flavors of bread pudding than Leonard's ever seen in his life. After trying a few, he decides on the classic version with caramel and pecans while Jim gets blueberry with white chocolate and sprinkles.

Desserts in hand, they walk around the neighborhood, passing numerous bars, restaurants and little stores selling everything from handmade corsets to sake. Jim points out some of his favorite places, sometimes handing Leonard his dessert so he can use both hands to speak.

After a few blocks, they turn onto a street with a wide greenway running down the center. There are a few pieces of playground equipment as well as a statute made of crisscrossing metal bars depicting a woman standing with her back bent, face upward. It’s at least two stories high and the thick metal chains of her hair dangle down her back to past her hips.

They sit on a nearby bench admiring the statue and watching passersby while they finish their desserts. When they're done, Jim leads them over to a pair of shipping containers that have been converted into small shops. There's a long line outside one of them, and as they approach, Leonard sees several mixers on the counter, metal bowls billowing dry ice smoke. When he looks at the chalkboard along one wall, he realizes this must be the ice cream shop Jim had in mind and that the mixers are making each scoop of ice cream to order, freezing the cream with liquid nitrogen.

Throwing their trash in a nearby bin, Jim takes Leonard's hand again and leads them down the greenway, apparently with a destination in mind. They pass a small community garden and another few restaurants, including one that Leonard swears has a seat from a Tilt-o-Whirl in the window. Every time they reach an intersection, they take the opportunity to trade kisses and miss more than one light change as a result.

As they head down the hill nearing Market, Leonard imagines he can hear the distant thump of bass. The sound gets louder, and once they've turned the corner, he sees a short line of people outside a small club. Jim hauls them into line and he can obviously feel the beat through the wall as he starts to sway in time to the music.

It's still relatively early, so it’s not long before they're at the head of the line, and after a quick inspection of their IDs, Jim pays the cover charge and they enter the crowded club. The heat inside hits him like a wave, and he has to laugh when he notices Jim's glasses are completely fogged up.

Jim smiles, tilting his head forward to stare at Leonard over the tops of his glasses. He grabs his hand again, hauling them over to bar where Jim picks a printed menu and pulls a pen out of his jacket pocket to circle two items on the menu before handing it and some cash over to the bartender.

While they wait, Jim continues to sway to the musicand Leonard can't help but sway along with him. He doesn't know what kind of drink Jim got for him, but it's something sweet with bourbon and Leonard enjoys it so much that he's surprised when he goes to take another sip and finds it's all gone. When Jim's finished his drink he deposits their empty glasses on the bar and pulls Leonard into the far more crowded part of the club. 

Jim's right: he's not a good dancer. But what he lacks in ability, he more than makes up for in enthusiasm. He hops and spins and throws his arms in the air; his eagerness is infectious and soon Leonard is dancing along, unconcerned at how foolish he might look. Jim's smile is huge and joyful and Leonard knows his expression is the same.

Objectively speaking, he's hot and tired and the music is so loud his ears ring, but Leonard doesn't care about any of that. Jim's is just as gorgeous as Leonard had imagined as he moves sinuously, those beautiful eyes fixed on him, oblivious to all the hard bodies and handsome faces of the men crowded around them. 

Leonard doesn't think he's ever been so happy.

His happiness only increases as Jim grabs him by the belt loops and pulls their bodies flush against one another before attacking Leonard's mouth with his own. His arms come up around Jim's chest to bring them even closer as their tongues tangle.

They grind their bodies against each other's, heedless to the rhythm of the music or the mass of strangers crowded around them. Leonard can't tell how long they trade hot, hungry kisses, but he can feel Jim's erection against his hip and is sure Jim can feel how hard Leonard is for him. Jim finally pushes him away just enough to bring his hands up between them.

[[Let's go.]]

This time it's Leonard who takes the lead, grabbing Jim's hand and hauling him through the crush of writhing bodies and out the door. He can actually see the steam rise from Jim's body when they exit into the cold, misty night. He has no idea which direction to go, but Jim takes over once more, dragging him down the street and turning at the next corner.

Every time they have to stop to wait for a light, they're on each other again, hands groping over and under their clothes as the kiss until they're breathless. Leonard realizes they're almost back at the restaurant when Jim hauls them around another corner before stopping in front of an old brick-front apartment building.

Jim fumbles in his pocket for his keys while Leonard continues kissing him. Even when Jim turns around to try and open the front gate, Leonard sucks Jim's neck, licking the salt from his skin and rubbing against Jim's ass as Jim thrusts back and moans softly.

Thankfully, Jim has enough presence of mind to push Leonard away to open the gate. They repeat the process with the front door and once they get into the small foyer, Leonard turns Jim around again, kissing his laughing mouth as Jim slowly maneuvers them over to a tiny elevator in the corner.

Jim's arm flails out in the direction of the elevator, ostensibly trying to find the call button, but he makes no move to break their kiss. He must have succeeded since Leonard can hear the elevator start moving and his already hammering heart leaps at the thought that they'll be inside Jim's apartment soon.

The light from the open elevator is bright in the dim lobby, and Jim keeps his arms wrapped around Leonard as he literally rolls them along the wall and through the door. Leonard laughs and can feel the curve of Jim's smile against his lips until Jim pulls back just enough to push the button for the fourth floor.

They keep kissing as the door slowly closes and the elevator starts its ascent with a lurch. Inside, the noise is loud enough that it cuts through Leonard's lust-dazed mind and he pulls his mouth away from Jim's and looks around suspiciously just as the elevator shudders and Leonard's eyes go wide. Jim just smiles.

[[These things are pretty safe.]]

Another shudder has Leonard's eyes darting around the tiny space until Jim goes back to kissing him, deep and sweet and dirty, while his hands grab Leonard's ass and grind their lower bodies together. Leonard just closes his eyes and focuses on Jim until the elevator comes to a juddering halt and the doors open.

Following Jim's example, Leonard rolls them out the door and along the wall as Jim chuckles silently, his breath puffing against Leonard's lips. He expects Jim to step away, but instead he keeps rolling them along the wall, bumping into a couple of pictures along the way. By the time they come to a stop next to a door jamb, they're both laughing and Jim gently pushes Leonard away, turning around to open the door to number forty-two.

Stepping inside the tiny apartment, the mood between them changes, both suddenly shy despite having spent the last fifteen minutes trying to devour each other whole. Jim looks around and raises his arms before turning back to Leonard.

[[Home sweet home.]]

The studio is small but spacious, with high ceilings and several tall windows along the red brick wall opposite the front door. It's long and narrow, with a kitchenette and what Leonard presumes to be the door to the bathroom at the left end of the apartment and a queen-sized bed taking up most of the space along the right-hand wall.

Leonard is still staring at the bed when Jim steps in front of him and asks if he wants something to drink. Even though Leonard's mouth is dry, it's not due to simple thirst. At least not for water.

Locking eyes with Jim, Leonard lets his mouth curve into his filthiest leer and is pleased to see Jim's flush darken. Crooking his finger, he motions Jim closer and Jim is on him in an instant, all shyness gone.

Leaning back, Leonard quickly removes Jim's glasses and sets them on a small table near the front door. With that obstacle out of the way, he places one hand on Jim's jaw and the other in his hair, gently tilting Jim's head to the perfect angle to plunder his mouth.

Jim's hands, meanwhile, scrabble along Leonard's back, pulling his mostly-untucked shirt from his jeans before moving around to start on his belt buckle. Leonard briefly tries unbuttoning Jim's shirt, but his shaking hands make it difficult and he reaches up to shove Jim's jacket off his shoulders instead.

Jackets, shirts, belts and shoes litter the floor leading from the front door to the bed. Jim pulls away to toss several aptly-named throw pillows to the floor and yank down the covers while Leonard takes advantage of the opportunity to pull off his socks and throw them in the general direction of where he thinks his shoes are.

His belt and fly are already open, so he goes ahead and lets his jeans drop just as Jim turns back around and stops, staring. His eyes roam hungrily over Leonard's body from his head to his toes currently hidden in the jeans pooled around his ankles, paying particular attention to the ridge of his cock straining against the cotton of his boxers.

The longer Jim stares the more self-conscious Leonard becomes and it takes an effort not to fidget. Finally, Jim looks him in the eyes, expression rapt, as he raises his open hand in front of his face, fanning his fingers out and briefly waving them before making a fist.

[[Beautiful.]]

Leonard has enough presence of mind to step out of his jeans before he walks over to Jim and gives him a slow, deep, thorough kiss. Pulling back, Jim looks dazed and Leonard smiles, pleased with his handiwork. He quickly helps strip Jim down to his underwear and as soon as Jim's kicked his jeans aside, he wraps his arms around Leonard's chest and falls back onto the bed.

They bounce briefly against the firm mattress, kissing each other's laughing mouths while their hands wander anywhere and everywhere. Leonard slides his hands under stretchy white cotton to confirm that, yes, Jim does indeed have an excellent ass. After helping Jim rid himself of his briefs, he also finds that Jim has an excellent cock. Long and slim and Leonard can't wait to feel it inside him.

Sitting back on his heels, he straddles Jim's thighs and reverently runs his hands over the width of his shoulders and muscled arms. Stroking his chest, Leonard enjoys the crisp feel of hairs scratching his palms as his eyes catalog the freckles he'd once told Jim he wanted to discover. They are few and far between and that much more precious for their rarity.

Jim lies against the crisp white sheets, hands rubbing up and down Leonard's thighs as he explores Jim's body with hands and eyes. Finally, he raises his hands to repeat Jim's earlier gesture.

[[Beautiful.]]

The flush painting Jim's chest and throat deepens and spreads as Leonard leans forward to feel that heated skin against his lips, gently nipping on Jim's Adam's apple before moving around to suck a bruise into the side of his neck. He can feel the vibration of Jim's hum against his mouth, but doesn't hear anything.

Returning his attention to Jim's face, he can see how Jim is biting his lips in order to stay silent. Leonard knows how insecure Jim is about how he sounds and it breaks his heart a little. He sits up again to free up his hands.

[[I want to hear you.]]

Jim licks his lips, looking uncomfortable and Leonard reaches down to follow the path Jim's tongue had taken before raising his hands once more.

[[Please.]]

After a moment, Jim gives him a quick nod and Leonard smiles, signing his thanks before leaning down to express his gratitude in a far more intimate way. As he goes back to lavishing attention on Jim's neck and chest, Jim gradually relaxes and his groans become louder and more frequent. His hands have worked their way into Leonard's briefs, squeezing his ass before pushing them down over his hips. Leonard moves to help and soon they're both completely naked, skin-to-skin from lips to toes and he can feel as much as hear Jim's groan of pleasure.

Inspired, he sits up again and this time Jim's groan is one of frustration, but Leonard grabs Jim's hands, placing one on high on his chest and the other on his aching cock. Jim looks confused and Leonard tries to explain.

[[I want you to hear me.]]

He gives a little thrust with his hips and Jim seems to get the idea as he slowly strokes from base to tip. The moan Leonard gives is only slightly exaggerated, and Jim gasps, his fingertips flexing against the base of Leonard's throat.

After a few more strokes, Jim sits up and begins kissing and sucking along Leonard's neck, groaning in response every time he feels the vibrations of Leonard's pleasure. Jim's hands continue stroking along Leonard's back and sides, squeezing his ass and eventually sliding into the cleft between his buttocks.

This is exactly what Leonard hoped would happen and he clutches at Jim's shoulders, moaning almost theatrically when Jim's fingers move further down to brush against sensitive skin. Leaning away slightly, Jim raises his brows and tilts his head in a silent question. Leonard's answer is an enthusiastic nod as he reaches for Jim's hand, holding it in place while thrusting back against it.

Jim surges forward, giving Leonard a bruising kiss while his fingers rub roughly between the cheeks of his ass for a moment before Jim turns and unceremoniously dumps Leonard on the bed. Giving an apologetic grin, Jim reaches into the bedside drawer and pulls out a small paper bag, which he upends onto the table, spilling out a box of condoms and bottle of lube.

After a brief struggle with the box, Jim extracts two condoms and sets the on the bed along with the lube. Crawling over to the other side of the bed, Jim grabs a throw pillow from off the floor, brushing it off quickly before sliding it under Leonard's lower back.

Settling his body over Leonard's, the two re-stoke the fire between them and soon Jim reaches for one of the condoms, unrolling it over his index finger. Leonard appreciates Jim's thoughtfulness, but he grabs Jim's wrist, slowly and deliberately moving the condom to fit over Jim's first two fingers. Jim gives him a questioning frown and Leonard just grins.

[[I've been practicing.]]

Jim's eyes go wide and his nostrils actually flare as he sucks in a breath before leaning down to kiss Leonard. Hard. Sitting back on his heels, Jim glares at him and signs, condom still in place on his fingers.

[[You are evil.]]

Laughing, Leonard reaches over and grabs the lube, popping the top before handing it to Jim. Keeping his eyes locked with Jim's, he hooks his hands under his knees and pulls them up, spreading his legs and letting Jim settle between them. Jim just gasps again and shakes his head, setting the lube down briefly.

[[You're going to kill me.]]

Leonard just hitches his legs higher. Jim gets the message and picks up the lube again, coating the condom before smoothing his hand down Leonard's ass until he reaches the sensitive ring of muscle hidden there. As Jim rubs gentle circles against his delicate flesh, Leonard moans and reaches for Jim's left hand where it rests on his knee, pulling it up to rest on his chest again.

Taking hold of his knee again, Leonard keeps himself spread wide, ass tilted up, as Jim finally breaches him slowly. Jim's fingers are thick, but Leonard wasn't kidding about having practiced, so the slight burn is nothing compared to the pleasure zinging up and down his spine. Jim’s hand stills for a moment as he crooks his fingers, unerringly finding Leonard’s prostate on the first try. He groans in pleasure, struggling to keep his eyes open so he can watch Jim's face as he focuses on carefully opening Leonard up, tongue held between his teeth in concentration.

Soon Leonard is loose enough for Jim to add a third finger. He stops just long enough to fit his ring finger inside the condom and add more lube before pressing his fingers back inside. Leonard moans long and loud at the thicker intrusion, lifting his hips to meet the pumping of Jim's hand in and out of him as Jim’s fingers press against his prostate with every other thrust. Normally, he'd be self-conscious about the noise he's making, but he can hear Jim groan in response to the vibrations he feels transmitted through his hand on Leonard's chest, and anything that enhances Jim's pleasure is something he's happy to do.

He doesn't know how long it's been, but Jim's fingers are gliding smoothly in and out, and as good as this feels, it's not enough. He nods at Jim to let him know he's ready. 

Jim slips his fingers free and disposes of the condom then grabs the new one and tears the packet open. Leonard watches avidly as Jim rolls it over his cock, hard and flush against his abdomen, before adding more lube and finally repositioning himself between Leonard's widespread legs. He leans down and gives Leonard a kiss that is practically chaste in light of what they're about to do.

Their tongues tangle for long moments until Jim reaches down to finally guide his cock into Leonard's willing body. Jim shows the same level of care and consideration as he did when he was preparing Leonard, keeping his thrusts slow and shallow. He appreciates it, he really does, but it seems like it's taken them ages to get here and he's ready to get to the good part.

Letting go of his knees, Leonard lifts his legs and wraps them high around Jim's back. At the same time, he reaches down, grabbing Jim's ass and pulling him flush against him, driving his cock in so deep that Leonard throws back his head and _keens_.

He can feel Jim's answering moan where their chests are pressed together and feels Jim's hand in his hair, pulling his head down so Jim can kiss him, his tongue mimicking the motions of his hips. Now that Leonard has given Jim permission to stop being so careful, Jim goes for it, alternating long, slow rolls with short, hard thrusts.

Jim props himself up on his right elbow while he rests his left forearm across Leonard's chest, hand at the base of his throat so he can feel his almost continuous moans as Jim's rhythm never falters. Even as he continues to pump in and out, Jim changes the angle of his body slightly until his cock hits Leonard's prostate and he practically howls with the pleasure of it as his whole body shudders.

Once Jim's found the right angle, he stays there, changing the pace, depth and force of his thrusts while still managing to graze Leonard's prostate on practically every pass, until Leonard thinks he might die from sensory overload.

But what a way to go...

Leonard swears he's fallen into some kind of fugue state, held there by the press of Jim's body against and inside his and the quick, hard breathless kisses they exchange. But even better than that is the way Jim watches him, eyes heavy-lidded and pupils so huge they're surrounded by just a thin strip of pale blue. His eyes never leave Leonard's face, watching every twitch and grimace of pleasure avidly, as if Leonard is the most amazing thing Jim's ever seen.

He tries to keep his eyes locked with Jim's because this is the most intense and intimate experience of his life and he hopes Jim can see that in the way Leonard looks at him. He thinks maybe Jim does because he suddenly gives Leonard a smile – small and incongruously shy – and leans down for a soft, sweet kiss.

That's all he can take and he reaches between them to grasp his leaking cock. Jim leans up slightly to give him room, and looks down to where their bodies are joined to watch as Leonard quickly strokes himself once, twice... He comes with a shout and his mind goes blank, his whole body shaking as he bears down around the hard length of Jim inside him.

He's vaguely aware that Jim's thrusts are losing their coordination and Leonard pries open his suddenly leaden eyelids to watch as Jim's orgasm overtakes him. His eyes are clenched shut and his mouth open as he rides it out, grunting quietly with each spasm and twitch of his hips. Opening his eyes, he stares dazedly at Leonard for a moment, breathing harshly, and leans down for another chaste kiss.

When they part, they're both smiling widely and Leonard lowers his legs with a groan as Jim carefully pulls out and rolls to the side, landing on his back with a sigh. Jim sits up and grabs a box of tissues which he offers to Leonard. After taking a handful, Leonard wipes himself off and removes the throw pillow from under him while Jim disposes of the condom.

Together they untangle the mess of sheets and blankets at the foot of the bed and finally drape the light blanket over themselves to ward off the chill of the room that's become evident as the sweat on their bodies slowly cools.

They lay on their sides facing one another, heads on the same pillow, trading slow kisses and playing footsie underneath the sheets. Leonard can't seem to stop touching Jim and, thankfully, the feeling appears to be mutual. Laying only a few inches apart, their hands skim over each other's arms, necks and faces, their eyes avidly following the path their fingers take.

Jim looks at him, his expression rapt, and Leonard feels his heart swell and his breath catch as he’s overwhelmed by the urge to put his feelings into words. It's a risk and a part of him is terrified, but another larger part of him knows that nothing's ever felt as good, as right, as being with Jim does.

Before he can talk himself out of it, Leonard raises his hand in a gesture that's familiar to people worldwide who don't even speak a word of Sign. He spreads his fingers and thumb wide, middle and ring fingers bent down: an I, L and Y combined into one simple sign that expresses humanity's most complex emotion.

Jim's breath catches and he looks stunned, wide eyes darting between Leonard's face and his hand as he brings his hand up to trace over Leonard's fingers. He tries not to let his fear show as the seconds tick by until Jim finally looks him in the eye and slowly brings his hand next to Leonard's, mirroring the sign exactly.

Their fingertips touch, the knuckles of their bent fingers rubbing against one another. Together, they watch their hands as they extend their fingers and intertwine them. Jim's laugh is quiet and little watery as Leonard leans forward to give him he a slow, sweet kiss.

He knows Jim hears him loud and clear.

END


End file.
